Korea D-7 Intra-Company Transfer Visa: Eligibility, Required Documents, and What Actually Decides the Outcome
The D-7 intra-company transfer visa is the status granted to employees who have worked at a foreign head office for at least one year and are being dispatched to a branch, office, or liaison office in Korea — and approval hinges less on how many documents you submit than on how well you explain why the transfer is necessary. It covers two groups: essential professionals dispatched from a foreign company or public institution to its Korean branch (D-7-1), and staff who have worked for at least one year at an overseas subsidiary of a Korean listed company and are being reassigned to the head office in Korea (D-7-2). Below, we walk through applicant eligibility, company-side requirements, the document checklist, the application process, and the points where applications most often stall in practice.
The First Thing to Check: One Year of Service at the Head Office
It looks straightforward on paper, but the starting point of every D-7 review is your period of continuous employment at the head office immediately before the transfer. Attached Table 1-2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act defines the D-7 status as "a person who has worked for at least one year at the head office or a branch of a foreign public institution, organization, or company, and who is dispatched as an essential professional to a branch or office in Korea." How that one year is calculated is usually where the first problem appears.
D-7-1 vs. D-7-2
- D-7-1: dispatched to a foreign company's branch, office, or liaison office in Korea
- D-7-2: employed for at least one year at an overseas subsidiary or branch established by a Korean listed company or public institution, then reassigned to the head office in Korea
The two categories require different documents and are reviewed on different points. Pin down which one applies to you first — everything else follows from that.
The Part People Miss When Counting the One Year
The most common oversight is having an inter-affiliate transfer or a leave of absence sit inside that period, counted from the date of dispatch. Even within the same corporate group, moving between separate legal entities has in some cases been treated as a break in service. How much of your service history counts can vary case by case, so if yours is at all ambiguous, get it reviewed before you apply.
Company-Side Requirements — Proving the Branch Is Half the Battle
More important than any individual document is proof that the Korean branch was lawfully established and is genuinely operating. Even a flawless personal file falls apart quickly if the company-side evidence is thin.
Establishing a Branch or Liaison Office
For a foreign company to open a branch or office in Korea, it must first file an establishment report with a designated foreign exchange bank under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. A branch then proceeds to business registration with the tax office; a liaison office instead receives a unique identification number. If you apply for the visa before this step is complete, the application will not even be accepted.
Proving the Head Office–Branch Relationship
- Head office corporate registry extract and business license
- Certificate of acceptance of the branch establishment report
- Letter of assignment (dispatch order) from the head office
- Branch business registration certificate or unique-number certificate
In practice, reviewers also look at the head office's size and revenue, and at the branch's operating track record. For a newly established branch, how convincingly you present the operating plan makes a real difference.
Document Checklist — What You Need for the Korea D-7 Work Visa
Here is the core of it. The documents fall into two pillars — "proof of your work history" and "proof that the company is real" — and if either pillar is weak, a request for supplementary documents follows.
| Category | Document | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | Application for Confirmation of Visa Issuance, passport, standard photo | Use the HiKorea forms |
| Applicant | Certificate of employment and career certificate | Proves 1+ years at the head office |
| Applicant | Letter of assignment | Must state position, dispatch period, and duties |
| Company | Head office registry extract and business license | Apostille or consular legalization |
| Company | Certificate of acceptance of branch establishment report | Issued by the foreign exchange bank |
| Company | Business registration certificate and tax records | New branches supplement with an operating plan |
| Company | Evidence of branch operations | Lease agreement, financial records, etc. |
Caution: Documents issued abroad must go through apostille certification or consular legalization, and a Korean translation is frequently required as well.
Practical tip: If the letter of assignment lists only a job title and leaves the duties blank, it will trip up on the "essential professional" test. Spelling out the actual duties in detail gets you through faster.
Additional document requirements vary by immigration office, so confirm the exact list for your situation through a consultation.
Application Process and Processing Time
The usual route is to obtain a Confirmation of Visa Issuance first, then use it to apply for the visa at a Korean diplomatic mission abroad.
| Step | What Happens | Responsible Body |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Branch establishment report and business registration | Foreign exchange bank, tax office |
| 2 | Apply for Confirmation of Visa Issuance | Competent immigration office |
| 3 | Confirmation of Visa Issuance granted | Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice |
| 4 | Visa application at a diplomatic mission | Korean embassy or consulate in your home country |
| 5 | Foreign resident registration after entry | Competent immigration office |
Processing times vary by immigration office, and if a supplementary-document request is issued, delays of a month or more are common. If the transfer is on a tight schedule, it is worth checking which jurisdiction is currently processing faster before you file.
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Where Applications Actually Get Stuck
In practice, even a complete file can succeed or fail on the three points below.
Weak Proof of Work History
If the certificate of employment shows only a hire date, with no duties or position changes, you can expect a request to substantiate whether you qualify as an essential professional. What reviewers look at first is not the length of the career certificate but how clearly it connects your experience to the work you will do in Korea.
Insufficient Branch Operating Record
A newly established liaison office, or a branch with no revenue, is easily suspected of lacking "genuine intent to operate." In recent comparable cases, outcomes turned on how well the lease agreement and remittance records from the head office were tied together into a coherent explanation. The right way to make that case differs from one situation to the next, so an individual review comes first.
No Explanation of Why the Transfer Is Necessary
If the answer to "why does this person need to be in Korea?" appears nowhere in the file, a supplementary-document request follows. This is the crux of it. The statement of transfer necessity is the single item most often missing when people prepare on their own.
D-7 vs. D-8 vs. E-7: Get the Visa Category Right First
People frequently confuse D-7 with D-8 and prepare the wrong set of documents.
| Item | D-7 Intra-Company Transfer | D-8 Corporate Investment | E-7 Specific Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premise | Dispatch from a foreign head office | Investment in a Korean entity | Hired by a Korean company |
| Experience requirement | 1+ years at head office | Centered on investment amount | Education and experience criteria |
| Company type | Branch, office, liaison office | Foreign-invested corporation | No restriction |
| Salary paid by | Head office or branch | Korean entity | Korean company |
If a local entity backed by investment is involved, D-8 may be the right fit; if a Korean company is hiring you directly, E-7 may be. Get the structure wrong and you can end up starting over from scratch with a fully prepared file.
Extension of Stay and Accompanying Family
D-7 status is granted for up to two years per issuance and can be extended from within Korea. At extension review, the branch's tax payment record and actual operations are examined again. Your spouse and minor children can stay with you under the dependent (F-3) status. The performance criteria applied at extension can change over time, so check the HiKorea notices and confirm with the competent office first.
FAQ
Q1. I've worked at the head office for 11 months — can I still apply? As a rule, you need at least one year as of the dispatch date. The outcome can differ depending on how the period is calculated, so a preliminary review comes first.
Q2. Can a liaison office sponsor a D-7? It is possible. That said, for a liaison office with no commercial activity, justifying the necessity of the transfer is harder than it is for a branch.
Q3. Can I be paid a salary in Korea on a D-7? Both head-office payment and branch payment are structurally possible, but the payer determines the tax treatment and the documentation needed at extension review.
Q4. Can I switch from D-7 to another visa? When the nature of the employment changes, some cases warrant considering a change to D-8 or E-7. The requirements for a change of status depend on the specifics.
Q5. How long does processing take? The Confirmation of Visa Issuance typically takes several weeks, but this varies widely by jurisdiction and whether supplementary documents are requested. We can map out the fastest route for your schedule during a consultation.
Q6. How much does it cost? Costs differ case by case, so we provide an exact quote during the free consultation. The structure is the government-listed fee plus an administrative service fee.
Need Expert Help?
The D-7 is a visa where the outcome turns less on your personal documents than on the company-side evidence and the statement of transfer necessity. We can handle everything in one engagement — from the branch establishment report through the Confirmation of Visa Issuance to foreign resident registration.
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