Korea Work Visa D-7 Required Documents — Eligibility and Paperwork for the D-7 Intra-Company Transfer Visa

The D-7 intra-company transfer visa is the status of stay granted to an employee who has worked continuously at an overseas head office for at least one year and is then posted to that company's branch or liaison office in Korea. The outcome does not hinge on how many documents you submit — it hinges on how accurately you explain the relationship between the head office and the Korean office.

It covers two groups: staff dispatched to a foreign company's Korean branch or liaison office, and personnel transferring from a Korean company's overseas subsidiary or branch back to the Korean head office.

Below we walk through eligibility, the document list, the application process and timeline, the points where applications actually stall during review, extensions of stay, and bringing family members.

Legal Basis and Scope of the D-7 Visa

The governing provision

D-7 is grounded in the "Intra-Company Transferee (D-7)" entry under Attached Table 1-2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act.

You can read the provision itself on the Korean Law Information Center.

The detailed screening standards follow the visa issuance guidelines administered by the Ministry of Justice, and those guidelines change more often than the statute does.

D-7-1 versus D-7-2

In practice, D-7 splits into two tracks.

D-7-1: staff dispatched to a foreign company's Korean branch, liaison office, or representative office
D-7-2: personnel who worked at a Korean company's overseas subsidiary or overseas branch and are transferring to a workplace in Korea

The names look similar, but the required documents are not the same.

D-7-2 in particular narrows depending on the size and structure of the Korean company, so the first thing to confirm is which category your own company falls into.

How it differs from an employment visa

E-7, the visa most people picture when they think "Korean work visa," starts from an entirely different premise than D-7.

E-7 assumes a Korean company is newly hiring a foreign national. D-7 assumes a person already employed by an overseas head office is being posted to Korea while remaining on that employer's payroll.

That is where the difference shows up.

For D-7, the relationship between the two companies is reviewed before the individual's credentials are.

D-7 Eligibility — One Year of Continuous Employment Is the Starting Line

Head office employment history

The baseline requirement is at least one year of continuous employment at the overseas head office (or overseas workplace).

The word people most often overlook here is "continuous."

If there was a resignation followed by a rehire, or if the employing entity changed to an affiliate partway through, the one-year calculation gets tangled.

In practice, reviewers first check whether the payroll records, social insurance payment records, and the start date on the certificate of employment all line up.

Requirements for the receiving office in Korea

There has to be a real entity in Korea.

The establishment report for the foreign company's Korean office (branch or liaison office) must be completed
For a branch, business registration must be in place
Actual office space must be verifiable (lease agreement, office photos, utility or management fee records, etc.)

It looks straightforward on the surface, but applying with nothing more than a shared-office address on file is exactly where things break down at this stage.

Note: Establishing a foreign company's Korean office goes through a reporting procedure under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and branches and liaison offices are permitted different scopes of activity. Because the type of report you filed affects the D-7 review outcome, confirm your situation with the competent authority.

Position and job duties

The person being posted must be a manager-level or specialized professional, not general administrative support.

If the title simply reads "Manager" and the actual job description is blank, this part of the application is weak.

The dispatch order needs to spell out the duties, the assignment period, and the reporting line so the reviewing officer has something concrete to assess.

In a recent comparable case, a job description that ran only two lines triggered a request for supplementary documents.

Practical tip: A dispatch order works better when a single paragraph makes clear "what this person will actually do in Korea" than when it runs long.

The recognized range of qualifying positions has been adjusted over time as the screening standards were revised.

Whether your particular title falls within the recognized range this year is fastest to confirm through a consultation.

Korea Work Visa D-7 Required Documents — The Complete List

Applicant's personal documents

Application for a Certificate of Visa Issuance, or visa application form
Passport copy and passport photo
Certificate of employment from the overseas head office (stating start date, position, and duties)
Dispatch order or letter of assignment
Degree certificate and career certificates (to establish job relevance)
Recent proof of salary payment (pay slips, salary transfer records, etc.)

Documents relating to the overseas head office

Head office business registration certificate or certificate of incorporation
Head office corporate registry extract or equivalent
Documents establishing the relationship between the head office and the Korean office (ownership structure, organizational chart, etc.)
Head office's most recent audited financial statements

As a rule, documents issued abroad must carry an apostille or consular confirmation and be submitted together with a Korean translation.

Showing up with originals only, having skipped this step, is a common occurrence.

Documents relating to the Korean office

Acceptance documents for the foreign company's Korean office establishment report
Business registration certificate for the Korean branch (if a branch)
Office lease agreement
Staffing roster for the Korean office and salary payment plan
Certificate of tax payment (where time has elapsed since establishment)

Category	Key documents	Notes
Applicant	Certificate of employment, dispatch order, passport, photo	Must show one year or more of continuous employment
Overseas head office	Corporate registry, business registration certificate, financial statements	Apostille or consular confirmation + translation
Korean office	Office establishment report documents, business registration certificate, lease agreement	Varies by branch vs. liaison office
Relationship evidence	Ownership structure chart, organizational chart, dispatch agreement	The core material explaining the head office–branch link
Additional requests	Business plan, transaction records, remittance records	Requested case by case at the reviewer's discretion

No matter how thick the file is, a gap in the relationship evidence leads to a request for supplementary documents.

You can find the baseline document list under the civil affairs guide on HiKorea, though additional materials are frequently required depending on the individual case.

Request a free consultation now → 02-363-2251 / KakaoTalk: alexkorea

Sorting out whether your company structure is D-7-1 or D-7-2 before you start gathering documents cuts your preparation time dramatically.

Application Process and Timeline

Via a Certificate of Visa Issuance

The most common route in practice: the Korean office acts as the representative and applies to the competent immigration office for a Certificate of Visa Issuance.

Once the certificate is issued, the applicant collects the visa at the Korean diplomatic mission in their home country.

Because the company drives the document preparation, responses to supplementary requests come back quickly.

Applying directly at a Korean mission abroad

You can also apply directly at the Korean embassy or consulate in your home country.

Required documents and intake procedures differ slightly from mission to mission, so check that mission's notices before you move.

Alien registration after entry

You must complete alien registration at the competent immigration office within the prescribed period from your date of entry.

Missing that deadline exposes you to a fine.

Step	What happens	Who handles it
Step 1	Korean office establishment report and business registration	Korean office
Step 2	Document collection, apostille and translation	Head office + applicant
Step 3	Certificate of Visa Issuance application	Korean office or representative
Step 4	Visa issuance at the overseas mission	Applicant
Step 5	Alien registration after entry	Applicant
Step 6	Managing extensions of stay	Korean office

Processing times vary widely by immigration office and by when you file.

The same file can see review times differ by weeks, so we help you choose both the jurisdiction and the timing to file.

Costs vary case by case, and we give you exact figures during the free consultation.

Government charges consist of the officially published government fee plus administrative processing costs.

Where Applications Actually Stall

The scope of a liaison office's activities

A liaison office is a structure that cannot engage in profit-making activity.

So when domestic sales figures, contracts, or tax invoices find their way into the submitted file, the reported office type and the actual activity look inconsistent.

That is where the trouble starts.

It doesn't end with the visa review — it escalates into having to redo the office establishment report itself.

Who pays the salary

Because D-7 assumes the employee is posted abroad while remaining on the head office payroll, the documents must clearly show who pays the salary.

Whether it is paid by the head office, by the Korean office, or split between them changes which supporting evidence you need to submit.

If that explanation is thin, the employment relationship itself comes into question.

Counting the one year of experience

The most frequent sticking point is the date the experience is counted from.

When the certificate of employment says two years of service but the salary transfer records cover only eight months, the review goes with the shorter figure.

The first thing to check is whether the numbers across your documents agree.

Note: When dates, titles, or salary figures conflict between documents, it stops being a clerical error and becomes a credibility problem. Cross-check everything before you submit.

Checklist

Does the start date on the certificate of employment match the start of the salary records?
Does the dispatch order describe the duties in concrete terms?
Does the type of office establishment report match the actual activity?
Are apostilles and translations ready for every overseas document?
Do you have material that demonstrates the office physically exists?

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D-7 vs. D-8 vs. E-7

Category	D-7 (Intra-Company Transfer)	D-8 (Corporate Investment)	E-7 (Special Occupation)
Basic structure	Posted from an overseas head office to a Korean office	A foreign national invests in a Korean corporation, then manages it	A Korean company hires a foreign specialist
Core requirement	One year at the head office + a real Korean office	Payment of the investment and explanation of fund sources	Link between the job and the applicant's education/experience
Company form	Branch or liaison office	Foreign-invested company (corporation)	Korean corporation or sole proprietorship
Common sticking point	Proving the head office–branch relationship	Explaining the flow of investment funds	Job suitability review
Family accompaniment	F-3 available	F-3 available	F-3 available

If your plan is to incorporate a new company and come in as its representative, D-8 rather than D-7 is the right thing to examine.

Conversely, if you already belong to a company in your home country and are simply opening a Korean office, D-7 is the natural fit.

Cases that sit ambiguously between the two structures are the most common in practice, and choosing wrong means starting the preparation over from scratch.

Extensions, Family Members, and Moving to Long-Term Residence

Extending your stay

You must apply for an extension before your granted period of stay expires.

At the extension stage, reviewers look far more closely at the actual operating condition of the Korean office than they did at initial issuance.

Records of the office's operating performance
Salary payment and tax payment records
Whether the office is still maintained
Head office documentation on extending the assignment period

Clearing the initial issuance but leaving no operating records behind is what blocks you at the extension stage.

Bringing family

A spouse and minor children can stay together with you under F-3 (dependent) status.

Family relationship documents likewise have to be issued in your home country and put through apostille and translation.

F-3 restricts employment as a general rule, so if your spouse plans to work in Korea, that needs to be reviewed separately.

Transitioning to long-term residence

Many people ask about the path from D-7 to F-2 (residence) and beyond after a certain period of stay.

The points-based criteria and income thresholds are revised often, so calculating from last year's standards leads you astray.

Exactly when a transition becomes possible given your own residence history and income can be calculated individually during a consultation.

Changes to the relevant systems are published through the Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. If I have less than one year at the overseas head office, is D-7 simply out of the question?

One year of continuous employment is the premise as a rule, and without it the chances of issuance are low.

That said, depending on the form of the Korean office and the job in question, there may be room to approach a different status of stay, so it is better to have your eligibility reviewed first.

Q2. Can a D-7 be issued if we only have a liaison office?

You can apply with a liaison office, but the premise that no profit-making activity takes place has to hold consistently across the entire file.

If contract or revenue materials are mixed in, this is precisely where it gets caught.

Q3. Can a D-7 holder also take on work for another company alongside the Korean office?

D-7 status presupposes activity at the reported place of assignment.

Working elsewhere requires clearing a separate procedure in advance, such as permission to engage in activities outside your status of stay; doing it without authorization is subject to sanctions.

Q4. Do all overseas documents need an apostille?

If the issuing country is party to the Apostille Convention, you get an apostille; if not, you get consular confirmation from the Korean mission there.

Requirements differ by document type, so finalizing the list first and processing everything in one round saves both time and money.

Q5. How long does the process usually take?

The full timeline from the office establishment report through alien registration varies widely depending on how prepared the company is.

Processing speed also differs by immigration office, so we identify the fastest route available as of right now.

Q6. If a D-7 application is refused, can I reapply?

Reapplying is possible in itself, but resubmitting with the issues raised the first time left untouched produces the same result.

Pinning down the exact grounds for refusal and restructuring the file comes first.

Need Professional Assistance?

With D-7, the outcome is decided at the stage where you explain the company structure, not at the stage where you gather personal documents.

Choosing the office report type, proving the head office–branch relationship, and organizing the employment start date are the points where people most often press ahead alone and then have to undo the work later.