D-7 Intra-Company Transfer Visa: Required Documents, Eligibility, and Where Cases Diverge in Practice
The D-7 visa is the status of stay granted when an employee who has worked at an overseas head office for at least one year is dispatched to a branch, liaison office, or affiliate in Korea.
It applies to executives and staff on the payroll of a foreign corporation's head office, and the application only becomes possible once a lawfully established place of business exists on the Korean side.
Below we walk through eligibility requirements, the subcategory split, the document checklist, the branch establishment report, the points where real screening decisions turn, and finally extensions and accompanying family.
D-7 Eligibility: What to Check First
One Year of Employment at the Overseas Head Office
The first thing reviewed is how long the applicant has actually worked at the overseas head office.
As a rule, this means one continuous year of employment immediately preceding the transfer.
If the certificate of employment states only the dates, with no payroll records or social insurance contribution history attached, this part reads as thin.
Trying to prove a work history with a single sheet of paper is usually where applications stall.
The Link Between the Transfer Purpose and the Job
If the work done at the head office does not connect to the work planned in Korea, it is hard to have the move recognized as a transfer.
Write that someone handled accounting at head office and will now head up sales in Korea, and the officer will ask why this particular person is the one being sent.
The core question is whether this is a genuine transfer that remains under the head office's direction and supervision, or in substance a new local hire by a Korean company.
If it reads as the latter, the case shifts from D-7 toward an E-7 review instead.
Substance of the Korean Place of Business
If the Korean entity exists only on paper through registration or a filing, with no actual office space or staff, the application is blocked immediately.
A lease agreement, office photographs, and the current headcount of local employees together are what make the operation look real.
Note: Some eligibility requirements for transferred personnel are subject to exceptions to the work-history rule. Whether your own background falls under an exception varies case by case, so it is worth confirming in advance.
D-7-1 or D-7-2: The Split Starts With Your Subcategory
D-7-1: Intra-Company Transfer
This covers a foreign company's head office sending executives or staff to a branch, liaison office, or locally incorporated subsidiary it has established in Korea.
This is by far the most common type handled in practice.
D-7-2: Transfers From Listed Corporations and Similar Bodies
This covers overseas listed corporations, public institutions, and similar organizations dispatching personnel to a Korean office, and the documentary burden is different.
Proof of listing and evidence of the head office's scale are both required, and the screening focus shifts accordingly.
| Category | D-7-1 | D-7-2 |
|---|---|---|
| Who it covers | Staff transferred from a foreign company's head office | Personnel from overseas listed corporations or public institutions |
| Korean entity type | Branch, liaison office, or local subsidiary | Domestic office |
| Key evidence | Certificate of acceptance of branch establishment report, transfer order | Proof of listing, head office scale documentation |
| Work history | 1+ year at head office | 1+ year at head office |
| Remarks | Requirements reviewed case by case | Requirements reviewed case by case |
File under the wrong subcategory and the documents have to be rebuilt from scratch, so the initial classification is where time is won or lost.
The D-7 Document Checklist
What people search for as Korea work visa D-7 required documents breaks down, in practice, into three bundles.
Preparing them separately — head office documents, Korean place-of-business documents, and the applicant's personal documents — cuts down on omissions.
| Category | Document | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Head office | Corporate registry extract or business registration certificate | Apostille or consular authentication |
| Head office | Certificate of employment (with dates of service stated) | Confirms 1+ year of experience |
| Head office | Transfer order specifying the assignment period | Position and duties stated |
| Head office | Payroll records, tax filings | Substantiates the work history |
| Domestic | Certificate of acceptance of branch/liaison office establishment report | Filed under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulations |
| Domestic | Copy of the business registration certificate | Confirms the Korean place of business |
| Domestic | Office lease agreement | Evidence of actual operations |
| Domestic | Tax payment certificate, list of enrollees in the four major insurances | Confirms operating track record |
| Personal | Application for a certificate of visa issuance, passport copy, standard-format photo | Check current forms on Hi Korea |
| Personal | Degree certificate, proof of career history, etc. | Reinforces job relevance |
| Personal | Activity plan | Reason for transfer and scope of work |
Practical tip: Documents issued abroad come as a set: apostille or consular authentication, plus a Korean translation. Whether a notarized translation is demanded can differ by the immigration office with jurisdiction, so it is safer to confirm before you file.
Current forms and submission lists are available from Hi Korea and the Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice.
Submission lists are revised on a short cycle, and reusing last year's list has led to rejections.
Book a free consultation now → 02-363-2251 / KakaoTalk: alexkorea
We will map out the document combination that fits your company's structure in a single session.
The Branch Establishment Report: The Step That Blocks You Before the Documents Do
Branch vs. Liaison Office
A branch may carry out profit-generating activities in Korea; a liaison office is limited to market research and liaison work.
Register as a liaison office and then actually sign contracts and book revenue, and the discrepancy surfaces during a follow-up inspection.
Which one you register as determines everything downstream, from tax treatment to how many people you can send on D-7 status.
Reporting Under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act
Establishing a domestic branch is subject to reporting under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and Article 9-2 of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulations, both available at the Korean Law Information Center.
The report normally goes to a foreign exchange bank, which issues the certificate of acceptance, though depending on the industry it may instead be routed to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Without that certificate, no amount of paperwork will get the visa application past the intake desk.
Note: If your industry touches finance, insurance, or similar sectors, the reporting channel itself changes. Where your company's line of business is classified is settled at the pre-review stage, so confirm it first.
Where Screening Outcomes Actually Differ
The Activity Plan
A plan where the reason for the transfer lands in a single paragraph beats a long one.
Set out what the Korean place of business does, which part of that the applicant will handle, and why a local hire cannot do the job instead.
If this explanation falls short, you will get a request for supplementary documents no matter how thick the file is.
The Link Between Head Office and the Korean Operation
If the number of people being sent to Korea looks excessive relative to head office revenue, the officer will take a second look at whether the operation is real.
In a recent case along these lines, strengthening the head office financial documentation alone was enough to steer the review back on track.
What to submit and how much of it depends on company size and industry, so a case-by-case review is the safer route.
Maximum Period of Stay
The maximum period granted per D-7 issuance, and the criteria applied at extension, are items adjusted through amendments to the regulations.
The standards in force this year should be confirmed with the competent authority.
The Application Process, Step by Step
| Step | What happens | Handled by |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | File the branch/liaison office establishment report and receive the certificate of acceptance | Foreign exchange bank or Ministry of Economy and Finance |
| 2 | Business registration and securing office space | Competent district tax office |
| 3 | Apply for the certificate of visa issuance | Competent immigration office |
| 4 | Apply for the visa at an overseas mission once the confirmation number is issued | Korean embassy or consulate in the home country |
| 5 | Alien registration after entry | Competent immigration office |
Processing times vary widely between immigration offices and between overseas missions.
A single request for supplementary documents pushes the whole schedule back, which is exactly why the pre-filing check is where the time is won.
Costs differ from case to case, and we will quote them precisely during the free consultation.
Government charges consist of the officially published fee plus administrative processing costs.
Extensions, Family, and What Comes Next
Extending the Period of Stay
At extension, the focus is on evidence that the Korean place of business is still genuinely operating.
Reviewers look at tax payment records, enrollment in the four major insurances, and whether the office is still maintained.
A liaison office that is merely being kept alive with nothing to show for it commonly runs into trouble at this stage.
Accompanying Family
A spouse and minor children may stay together with the applicant on F-3 dependent status.
F-3 holders are in principle barred from employment, and school placement for children follows the standards of the local office of education.
Changing Status Later
If you go on to set up a separate Korean corporation and inject investment capital, a D-8 review becomes available.
Once enough time on status and income history accumulates, some people look at moving into the F-2 family of statuses.
The requirements are adjusted each year in both point allocations and thresholds, so which route favors your particular record has to be checked individually.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. I haven't completed a full year at head office. Can I still apply for a D-7?
The rule is one year or more, though there are situations where an exception may be recognized.
How the period is calculated and whether an exception applies depends on how the file is assembled, so a preliminary review is recommended.
Q2. Are the D-7 required documents the same for a Chinese head office?
The document categories are identical, but anything issued in China needs apostille processing and a translation attached.
The business license and employment certificate carry different names and formats from the Korean equivalents, which is a frequent trigger for supplementary document requests.
Q3. Can a D-7 be issued if we only have a liaison office?
If the liaison office establishment report has been accepted, the application itself can proceed.
That said, because the entity by nature generates no revenue, the headcount being transferred and the activity plan have to be argued far more tightly.
Q4. I can't tell whether D-7 or E-7 is the right fit.
A transfer from head office is D-7; a structure where a Korean company hires you directly is E-7.
The distinction turns immediately on who pays the salary and who exercises direction and supervision.
Q5. What should I do if I get a request for supplementary documents during screening?
Failing to respond within the deadline can lead to a denial.
Rather than piling on more paperwork based on the wording of the request alone, read what the officer is actually trying to verify and answer that — that is what gets applications approved.
Q6. How long does processing take?
It varies depending on the immigration office and the overseas mission involved.
Which jurisdictions are workable and how the timeline can be arranged is something we advise on case by case during the consultation.
Need Professional Advice?
With a D-7, the outcome turns less on how many documents you file than on how you explain the link between head office and the Korean operation.
If things go wrong as early as the branch establishment report, the visa file has to be rebuilt — so it is faster to get the sequence right from the start.
Vision Administrative Affairs Office
- Phone: 02-363-2251
- Email: [email protected]
- KakaoTalk: alexkorea
- Address: 3F, Seongwoo Building, 324 Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul 04614
Vision Administrative Affairs Office Services
- Filing branch and liaison office establishment reports for foreign companies
- D-7 certificate of visa issuance applications and document review
- Support with drafting the activity plan
- Extensions of stay and F-3 dependent applications
- Establishment of foreign-invested companies and D-8 conversion review
Eligibility review comes first, and the direction of the case may change depending on the specifics.
Costs differ from case to case, and we will quote them precisely during the free consultation.
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