Intra-company Transferee Visa in Japan: Guide to Requirements & Documents

The Intra-company Transferee status of residence allows an employee of an overseas office of an organization with an office in Japan to transfer to the Japanese office for a fixed period and engage in work that falls under the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (Engineer/Specialist) status. The landing criteria have no education requirement; instead, the applicant must have worked continuously for at least one year in Engineer/Specialist-type work at the overseas office immediately before the transfer, and must receive pay at least equal to what a Japanese national would receive.

For an overview of Japan’s residence statuses, see our guide to types of residence status. For work visas in general, see our work visa guide.

What Is the Intra-company Transferee Status?

The Intra-company Transferee status covers activities in the Engineer/Specialist category carried out at an office in Japan by an employee of an overseas office of a public or private organization that has a head office, branch, or other office in Japan, who is transferred to the Japanese office for a fixed period (Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (ICRRA), Appended Table I(2); Immigration Services Agency (ISA), “Intra-company Transferee”, in Japanese). The ISA gives “transferees from overseas offices” as an example.

The organization does not need to be headquartered in Japan. An organization based abroad is also covered if it has an office in Japan.

Period of Stay

The period of stay is five years, three years, one year, or three months (ISA list of statuses of residence, in Japanese). To stay longer, apply for an extension of the period of stay.

Amendment from April 1, 2027 (Scheduled)

Under the amendment made by Act No. 60 of 2024, from April 1, 2027 a second category is scheduled to be added to the Intra-company Transferee status: an employee of an overseas office transferring to a Japanese office for a fixed period to acquire skills, receiving training, and engaging in work related to those skills (amended ICRRA, Appended Table I(2). The receiving organization must meet criteria set by Ministry of Justice ordinance, such as the scale of its business and its system for receiving trainees). This article covers the current Intra-company Transferee activities (which correspond to the first category after the amendment).

Bringing Your Family

The spouse and children who are supported by a person staying under Intra-company Transferee can live with them in Japan under the Dependent status. From April 1, 2027, the families of people under the new Intra-company Transferee (ii) are scheduled to be excluded from the Dependent status (amended ICRRA, Appended Table I(4)). For the requirements and procedure, see our Dependent visa guide.

Forms of Transfer

For Category 3 and 4 organizations, the ISA asks for documents showing the relationship between the office before the transfer and the office after the transfer, divided into the following three cases (ISA “Intra-company Transferee” page):

Form of transfer	Documents showing the relationship
Transfer within the same legal entity	Documents showing that the entity has an office in Japan, such as the certificate of registered matters of the foreign corporation’s branch
Secondment to a Japanese corporation	Documents showing the capital relationship between the Japanese corporation and the sending foreign corporation
Secondment to a foreign corporation with an office in Japan	Documents showing that the foreign corporation has an office in Japan, and documents showing the capital relationship between it and the sending corporation

Eligible Activities

The activities permitted are those listed for the Engineer/Specialist status: work requiring technology or knowledge in the natural sciences or humanities, or work requiring a way of thinking or sensitivity based on a foreign culture. Examples include:

Field	Examples of work
Engineering (sciences)	Systems engineers, programmers, mechanical design, electrical and electronic engineers
Specialist in humanities	Accounting and finance, legal, marketing, planning
International services	Interpretation and translation, language instruction, public relations and advertising, international trade, design

Ineligible Activities

Work that does not require specialized technology or knowledge does not fall under Engineer/Specialist activities, so we consider that it is also not permitted under the Intra-company Transferee status. Examples include:

• Assembly, inspection, or packing in factories
• Sorting in warehouses
• Cooking and serving in restaurants
• Cashier work and shelf stocking in retail stores

In addition, Business Manager activities are excluded from Engineer/Specialist activities (the parenthetical clause in the Engineer/Specialist entry of Appended Table I(2)). If the main activity in Japan is running or managing a business, the Business Manager status may apply instead.

Requirements

To obtain the Intra-company Transferee status, the applicant must meet both eligibility for the status of residence and the landing permission criteria.

Eligibility for the Status

From the definition in the Appended Table, all of the following must apply:

1. The organization has a head office, branch, or other office in Japan
2. The applicant is an employee of the organization’s overseas office
3. The applicant is transferred to the Japanese office for a fixed period
4. The applicant engages in Engineer/Specialist-type work at the Japanese office

Landing Permission Criteria (Ministerial Ordinance)

The Ministerial Ordinance on the criteria under Article 7, Paragraph 1, Item 2 of the ICRRA sets the following two criteria, both of which must be met (ISA, activities and landing criteria, in Japanese):

Criterion 1: At least one year of work immediately before the transfer

Immediately before the transfer, the applicant must have been engaged in Engineer/Specialist-type work at the head office, branch, or other office abroad continuously for at least one year.

Any period during which the applicant worked at the organization’s Japanese office with the Intra-company Transferee status is added to this period.

Criterion 2: Pay

The applicant must receive pay at least equal to what a Japanese national would receive for the same work.

No Education Requirement

The landing criteria for the Intra-company Transferee status have no education requirement. The Engineer/Specialist criteria generally require a university degree or equivalent education or a certain number of years of work experience; for the Intra-company Transferee status, the one year of prior work above is required instead.

However, the work in Japan itself must fall under Engineer/Specialist activities, so a certain level of expertise is required.

Differences from the Engineer/Specialist Visa

Item	Intra-company Transferee	Engineer/Specialist
Who	Employees transferred from an overseas office for a fixed period	People who enter into a contract with a public or private organization in Japan
Education and experience	No education requirement. At least one year of work at the overseas office immediately before the transfer	A degree or equivalent education related to the work, or at least 10 years of work experience. For work based on a foreign culture, in principle at least three years of experience
Place of activity	The office to which the applicant is transferred	The organization with which the applicant has a contract
Period of stay	Five years, three years, one year, or three months	Five years, three years, one year, or three months

Which Status Applies?

Activities listed for the Intra-company Transferee status are excluded from Engineer/Specialist activities (the parenthetical clause in the Engineer/Specialist entry of Appended Table I(2)). Therefore, transferring from an overseas office to a Japanese office for a fixed period to do Engineer/Specialist-type work falls under the Intra-company Transferee status. The applicable status depends on the form of transfer, for example where the employee moves to and contracts with the Japanese organization, so we recommend checking the form of transfer and the terms of employment.

For details on the Engineer/Specialist visa, see our Engineer/Specialist visa guide.

Required Documents

The required documents depend on the category of the receiving organization in Japan. For Categories 1 and 2, other documents are in principle not required beyond the common documents and a document proving the category (ISA “Intra-company Transferee” page). The documents for Categories 3 and 4 follow a list that came into use on April 1, 2026 (ISA document list, in Japanese).

Categories

Category	Organizations
Category 1	Companies listed on a Japanese stock exchange, mutual insurance companies, Japanese or foreign national or local governments, independent administrative agencies, special and authorized corporations, public-interest corporations authorized by Japanese national or local governments, public corporations listed in Appended Table 1 of the Corporation Tax Act, innovation-creating companies, and certain other qualifying companies
Category 2	Organizations or individuals whose withholding tax on employment income in the previous year’s statutory record summary was ¥10 million or more, or organizations approved for the online residence application system after requesting to apply with the same documents as Category 2
Category 3	Organizations or individuals that submitted the previous year’s statutory record summary for employees’ employment income (excluding Category 2)
Category 4	Organizations or individuals not falling under any of the above

Common Documents (Application for a Certificate of Eligibility)

Document	Notes
Application form	Application for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE)
Photo (one)	Meeting the ISA photo standards (in Japanese)
Return envelope	Standard-size envelope with the address written and postage stamps for simplified registered mail attached
Document proving the category	If none can be submitted, the organization is treated as Category 4

Certificates issued in Japan must be dated within three months of issue. Documents written in a foreign language must be submitted with a Japanese translation (ISA page on the Intra-company Transferee status). Documents from the overseas office are often in a foreign language, so it helps to arrange translation early.

Additional Documents for Categories 3 and 4

Document	Details
Documents showing the activities	For a transfer within the same legal entity, a copy of the transfer order or letter of appointment; for a transfer to a different entity, the document stating the working conditions; for officers, a copy of the articles of incorporation or shareholders’ meeting minutes setting their remuneration (including activities, period, position, and pay)
Documents showing the relationship between the offices	As shown in the “Forms of Transfer” table above
Documents showing that the previous office exists	Corporate registration documents issued by a public body, and documents such as tax payment records, transaction records, bills of lading, import/export permits, or advertisements
Documents proving the applicant’s career	A résumé stating the organizations, work, and periods of related work, and a document from the overseas organization where the applicant worked immediately before the transfer stating the work, position, and pay for the past year (if the applicant stayed in Japan under Intra-company Transferee at any time during the year before the transfer, this includes the Japanese organization where they worked during that period), such as a social insurance enrollment certificate or household register
Documents showing the business	A company brochure describing its history, officers, organization, and business, etc.
Certificate of registered matters	Commercial or corporate registration
Documents showing that the office where the applicant will work exists	Real estate registration, photos and floor plans of the office, etc.
Copy of the financial statements for the most recent year	A business plan for a new business

Further Documents for Category 4

Document	Details
Documents showing why the statutory record summary cannot be submitted	For organizations exempt from withholding, an exemption certificate, etc. Otherwise, a copy of the notification of establishment of a salary payment office and the income tax payment statements for the last three months (or documents showing approval of the special payment deadline)

Organizations that do not fall under Category 1 or 2 and have not submitted the previous year’s statutory record summary (including newly established corporations) fall under Category 4. Right after a foreign company enters Japan (by setting up a branch or a subsidiary), it may fall under Category 4 because it has no summary for the previous year, and it needs to show the existence of the office, the substance of the business, and the capital relationship in documents.

Documents for Extension of Period of Stay

For an extension, all categories submit the application form, a photo, and a document proving the category, and present the passport and residence card. Categories 3 and 4 also submit a residence tax certificate (taxation or non-taxation) and a tax payment certificate.

What the Application Needs to Show

From the requirements and the required documents, an application needs to show:

1. The transfer relationship: The relationship between the offices before and after the transfer (same entity, capital relationship)
2. The work: That the work falls under Engineer/Specialist activities
3. One year of prior work: At least one year of continuous Engineer/Specialist-type work at the overseas office
4. Pay: Pay at least equal to that of a Japanese national
5. Existence of the offices: That the offices before and after the transfer exist

How We Can Help

AEGIS International Administrative Firm supports applications for the Intra-company Transferee visa.

• Checking the status: We help you determine, from the form of transfer and the work, whether the Intra-company Transferee or the Engineer/Specialist status applies
• Preparing and filing applications: We organize the documents required for your category, prepare applications such as for a Certificate of Eligibility or an extension of period of stay, and file them with the ISA on the applicant’s request

Please feel free to contact us about receiving expatriate staff or secondees from overseas group companies.