D-7 Visa Documents: A Complete Guide to Requirements and Eligibility
The D-7 visa isn't about checking off a list of documents. It's about proving, on paper, that an overseas headquarters and its Korean office are genuinely one organization.
It applies to intra-company transferees — employees who have worked continuously at a foreign headquarters or affiliate for a set period and are then posted to a Korean branch, liaison office, or subsidiary.
This guide walks through eligibility, the document list, the points where applications actually get decided, the filing process, and the situations that most often cause delays.
D-7 Visa Eligibility: Check This Before You Touch the Paperwork
Before gathering a single document, confirm that you actually meet the eligibility criteria.
If something is off here, no amount of well-prepared paperwork will fix it.
Employment History Before the Transfer
This is the core requirement.
You must have worked continuously for at least one year at the overseas headquarters or an affiliated workplace, right up to the transfer.
If you resigned and were rehired at some point, or if your employing entity changed to a different affiliate, that one-year calculation gets complicated.
This is usually where applications run into trouble.
There are limited exceptions — for holders of advanced technical expertise, for instance — but the scope is narrow, and recent review practice has shifted how these are assessed. Whether an exception applies to your specific record needs to be confirmed case by case.
The Korean Entity Has to Exist First
A D-7 application can only proceed once the Korean entity receiving the transferee has already been established.
A common sequencing problem: trying to start the visa process before corporate registration or the foreign company's Korean branch establishment report has been completed.
D-7-1 vs. D-7-2
When a foreign company sends someone to Korea, that's D-7-1.
When a Korean listed company or public institution brings back personnel who were working at its overseas subsidiary, that falls under D-7-2.
The two categories require different documents and are reviewed with different priorities in mind.
You can find the governing provisions at the Korean Law Information Center, under the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act, Appended Table 1-2 (Long-Term Residence Statuses), item for Intra-Company Transferee (D-7).
D-7 Visa Document List — Organized in Three Groups
It helps to sort D-7 visa documents into three groups — the applicant, the overseas headquarters, and the Korean office. Fewer items slip through the cracks that way.
| Category | Key documents | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | Application for Certificate of Visa Eligibility, passport copy, standard-format photo, degree and career certificates | Check remaining passport validity |
| Overseas HQ | Proof of HQ incorporation (registry or equivalent business registration documents), certificate of employment, transfer/assignment order, salary evidence | Subject to apostille or consular authentication |
| Korean office | Acceptance certificate for foreign company branch establishment report or corporate registry extract, business registration certificate, office lease agreement | Post-establishment performance records may also be requested |
| Common | Statement of reasons for the transfer, business or work plan, documentation on Korean working conditions | Logic matters more than length |
What Gets Overlooked in Personal Documents
The certificate of employment needs to state position, job duties, period of employment, and salary — all four.
A one-page certificate that only lists dates does not demonstrate the one-year employment requirement.
What Separates a Strong HQ Submission
The transfer order must specify the Korean work location, the position, the length of the assignment, and who pays the salary.
Without that detail, an officer has no way to distinguish a genuine transfer from an assignment that exists only on paper.
Note: For documents issued abroad, whether you need an apostille or consular authentication depends on whether the issuing country is party to the Apostille Convention. On top of that, a Korean translation and a translator's certification must be attached before the filing will be accepted.
Foreign Company Branch Establishment Report: The Step That Comes Before the Visa
For D-7-1 cases, the real bottleneck is usually not the visa itself but the step preceding it.
Until the Korean branch establishment report is accepted, you cannot even file for the Certificate of Visa Eligibility.
| Item | Branch (commercial) | Liaison office (non-commercial) |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue activity | May conduct business and generate revenue in Korea | Liaison, market research, R&D, and other non-commercial work |
| Business registration | Standard business registration | Handled via assignment of a unique identification number |
| Tax treatment | Subject to corporate tax filing | Not structured to generate domestic revenue |
| In D-7 review | Substance shown through sales and transaction records | Substance shown through HQ remittances and work reports |
Which Structure You Choose Shapes Everything After
If an office is registered as a liaison office but is clearly conducting business activities, the problems start at the branch stage and only grow from there.
Conversely, if you set up a branch that shows no domestic revenue for an extended period, explaining why a transferee is needed becomes difficult.
This is where cases diverge.
Where to File
Under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, the branch establishment report for a foreign company is processed through a designated foreign exchange bank — but for certain industries, the filing authority is different.
Financial and insurance-related sectors, among others, follow a separate procedure, so it's worth confirming which authority has jurisdiction.
For accurate costs and procedures, speak with a professional. Request a free consultation now → 02-363-2251 / KakaoTalk: alexkorea
What Actually Decides a D-7 Review
You can submit a thick stack of documents and still face repeated requests for supplementation if these three explanations are weak.
Why the Transfer Is Necessary
The first question an officer asks is: why this person?
Citing general administrative duties that could be filled by a local hire won't be convincing.
You need to describe specific work that is hard to replace locally — headquarters systems, proprietary technology, management of existing client relationships.
Salary and the Substance of the Role
The evidence required differs depending on whether the headquarters or the Korean office pays the salary.
If headquarters pays, you'll need overseas payslips and remittance records. If the Korean office pays, you'll need documentation of local employment terms.
In a recent case of this type, the application drew a supplementation request because the stated payer of the salary conflicted with the contents of the transfer order.
The Korean Office's Operating Record
An application filed immediately after establishment carries a different evidentiary burden than one filed a year in.
This standard shifts with review practice, so during consultation we'll pin down the right scope of preparation for your office's establishment date and current level of activity.
Practical tip: Rather than writing a long statement of reasons for the transfer, mark the applicant's position on the headquarters org chart and draw a line connecting it to the duties they'll take on at the Korean office. It reads far faster.
Process and Processing Time
| Stage | What happens | Handled by |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Complete Korean incorporation or branch establishment report | Registry office / designated foreign exchange bank |
| Stage 2 | Apply for Certificate of Visa Eligibility | Immigration office with jurisdiction over the Korean office |
| Stage 3 | Certificate of Visa Eligibility issued | Ministry of Justice |
| Stage 4 | Visa application and issuance at the overseas mission | Korean embassy or consulate in the home country |
| Stage 5 | Alien registration after entry | Competent immigration office |
The Certificate of Visa Eligibility Route Is Standard
In practice, the standard approach is for the Korean office to obtain the Certificate of Visa Eligibility on the applicant's behalf.
Application forms and filing guidance are available at HiKorea and the Korea Immigration Service.
How Long It Takes
Processing times vary by immigration office, and any request for supplementary documents extends the timeline accordingly.
Office-by-office speed and the best way to respond to supplementation requests change over time, so we'll map out the fastest available route with you.
Common Grounds for D-7 Refusal or Supplementation Requests
Calculating the One-Year Employment Requirement
- Disputes over whether a probationary period counts toward the requirement
- Transfers between affiliates that changed the employing legal entity
- Periods of leave falling in the middle of the employment history
Document Validity
- Registry extracts or tax payment certificates that have expired based on their issue date
- Overseas documents submitted without an apostille
- Translations missing the translator's certification
An Office That Lacks Substance
- A leased office with no sign of actual use
- A liaison office with no record of headquarters remittances at all
When this is the weak point, restructuring first is faster than resubmitting documents.
Period of Stay and Extensions
The maximum period of stay granted at one time under D-7 is set at three years by law.
In practice, though, the period actually granted is often shorter, depending on the length of the assignment contract and the operating status of the Korean office.
At the extension stage, you'll need fresh documentation: the office's sales performance, the applicant's salary receipts, and tax payment records.
The document structure you build for the initial application carries straight through to the extension, so organizing your paperwork with extensions in mind from day one makes the later stages much easier.
Note: Missing the extension deadline before your period of stay expires counts as overstaying and can result in fines or disadvantages in future reviews. Applications open four months before expiry, so put it on the calendar early.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Is the D-7 visa completely out of reach if I haven't worked at headquarters for a full year?
The rule is at least one year of continuous employment immediately preceding the transfer.
Exceptions exist, but the scope is narrow and eligibility has to be assessed first.
There's a gray zone where the outcome depends on how the employment period is calculated, so it's worth checking whether your record adds up before anything else.
Q2. Can I apply for a D-7 with only a liaison office?
It's possible.
But because a liaison office can't demonstrate substance through revenue, you'll have to prove it instead with headquarters remittance records and work reports.
That structure carries a heavier explanatory burden than a branch does.
Q3. I'm already in Korea on a different visa status. Can I switch to D-7?
It depends on your current status and whether the Korean office has been established.
Which route is faster — a change of status or the Certificate of Visa Eligibility process — also varies from case to case.
Q4. Can my family come with me?
A spouse and minor children can apply for accompanying family (F-3) status.
Marriage and family relationship certificates need an apostille or consular authentication, and obtaining documents from your home country takes time — so it's better to prepare these alongside the transferee's own documents.
Q5. How much does it cost?
Costs consist of the official government fee plus administrative processing charges.
Since costs vary case by case, we'll give you exact figures during your free consultation.
Q6. I've gathered everything. Where should the review start?
Before the document list, look at how the office structure connects to the stated reason for the transfer.
If those two don't line up, you'll end up collecting documents all over again.
Need Professional Advice?
With D-7, branch establishment, foreign exchange filing, and visa review form a single chain — look at any one stage in isolation and you'll get blocked further down the line.
The hard part to handle alone isn't drafting documents. It's deciding how to design the office structure and the transfer arrangement in the first place.
- Phone: 02-363-2251
- KakaoTalk: alexkorea
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: 3F, Sungwoo Building, 324 Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul 04614
Vision Administrative Agency Services
- Filing of branch and liaison office establishment reports for foreign companies
- Foreign-invested company incorporation and FDI reporting
- D-7 intra-company transferee visa: Certificate of Visa Eligibility applications and stay extensions
- Preparation of accompanying family (F-3) sponsorship documents
- Alien registration and change of visa status
Costs vary case by case, so we'll give you exact figures during your free consultation.
Laws and review standards are subject to amendment, so check with the competent authority for the current requirements at the time you proceed.
Need Expert Consultation?
Don't navigate complex procedures alone. Our professional consultants will guide you.