D-7 Intra-Company Transfer Visa: Eligibility and Required Documents (For Head Office Transferees)
The D-7 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 being assigned to that company's branch, liaison office, or affiliate in Korea.
It does not apply to someone looking for a new job in Korea. It applies only when the company you already work for is transferring you into its Korean organization.
Below, we walk through eligibility, the document checklist, the branch-establishment process in Korea, the points where applications actually get decided, and extensions.
D-7 Eligibility: Two Things to Check First
One Year of Service and the Nature of the Assignment
The first thing to look at is your employment history at the head office.
As a rule, you must be able to document at least one year of continuous employment at the overseas head office or an overseas affiliate immediately prior to the transfer.
If you resigned and were later rehired somewhere in that period, the calculation frequently gets complicated.
The second thing is the nature of the assignment itself.
If the role in Korea amounts to general clerical support or manual on-site labor, it does not match the purpose of the D-7.
Your job description needs to show that you are coming in at a managerial level, or as a specialist carrying over work from the head office.
D-7-1 vs. D-7-2: Which One Are You?
| Category | Who It Covers | Key Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| D-7-1 | Transferees to a foreign company's Korean branch, liaison office, or affiliate | Accepted branch establishment report, proof of control/equity relationship with the head office |
| D-7-2 | Employees of an overseas subsidiary set up by a Korean company, transferred to the Korean head office | Qualifying entity requirements (listed company, etc.), work history at the overseas subsidiary |
If you identify the wrong category, no amount of document gathering helps — you start preparing again from scratch.
If your ownership structure is complex, or the affiliate is connected through a holding company, whether D-7-1 recognition extends that far varies case by case. It is faster to confirm how the equity-ratio standard applies to your situation through a consultation first.
D-7 Document Checklist and the Order to Prepare Them
Documents from the Applicant
- Application for Certificate of Visa Issuance, or visa application form
- Passport copy and standard-format photo
- Certificate of employment from the head office (stating period of service and position)
- Assignment order or personnel transfer order
- Degree certificate and career certificates
- Job description covering the duties you will perform after the transfer
Documents from the Company
| Document | Contents | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of head office establishment | Corporate registry or business registration documents of the overseas head office | Check whether apostille or consular authentication is required |
| Branch establishment report acceptance | Branch/office establishment report under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act | Filed with a foreign exchange bank or the competent authority |
| Korean business registration certificate | In the name of the branch, liaison office, or affiliate | Verify the listed business type |
| Financial documentation | Head office financial statements, proof of operating funds for the Korean entity | For liaison offices, remittance records are the focus |
| Proof of equity relationship | Shareholder registry, capital contribution documents | Carries heavy weight for affiliate transfers |
Even with a thick stack of documents, if the link showing that the head office and the Korean entity belong to the same corporate group is weak, you will get repeated requests for supplementary materials.
The scope of apostille processing for documents issued abroad differs by country, and where a country is not a party to the convention, consular authentication is used instead. You will need to confirm the applicable route for your nationality with the competent authority.
Setting Up the Korean Entity Comes Before the Visa
Nothing Starts Without the Establishment Report
This is where the trouble usually begins.
The D-7 is structured so that the Korean entity receiving you must already exist before you can apply.
For a foreign company to open a branch or liaison office in Korea, it must first go through the establishment reporting procedure under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.
Only after that report is accepted and the business registration certificate is issued can the visa file be completed.
Branch vs. Liaison Office
A branch conducts revenue-generating activity in Korea and carries tax filing obligations.
A liaison office may only engage in non-sales activity — market research, liaison work, promotion. If sales activity is identified, that becomes a problem.
Get this distinction wrong and the transferee's job description will conflict with the actual character of the organization, which is exactly the kind of mismatch that gets flagged in review.
Whether a corporation or a branch structure is more advantageous depends on the head office's industry and its future staffing plans, so it is better to review this at the structural design stage.
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Where Applications Actually Get Decided
Explaining Why the Transfer Is Necessary
In practice, reviewers are asking: "Why does this have to be this employee rather than a Korean national?"
You need to show concretely that this person knows the head office's systems, technology, and client relationships.
If that explanation is thin, you will get a supplementary request even with a flawless certificate of employment.
Substance of the Korean Entity
The piece most people overlook is evidence that the Korean entity is real.
The office lease agreement, actual remittance records for operating funds, and a domestic hiring plan should all be visible together.
If there is an address but little operational substance, this is precisely where you get stuck.
In a recent comparable case, all the paperwork was in order but the process was delayed at the office-space inspection stage.
Number of Transferees
If the number of transferees is excessive relative to the size of the liaison office, review gets much stricter.
What counts as an appropriate headcount depends on the size of the organization and its revenue plan, so how many people you can realistically transfer is something to assess in advance.
Application Process and Processing Time
| Stage | Contents | Handled By |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Branch/liaison office establishment report and business registration | Korean entity |
| Stage 2 | Application for Certificate of Visa Issuance (competent Immigration Office) | Korean sponsor |
| Stage 3 | Notification of the visa issuance confirmation number | Immigration |
| Stage 4 | Visa application and issuance at the overseas Korean mission | Applicant |
| Stage 5 | Alien registration after entry (for stays exceeding 90 days) | Applicant |
Application forms and submission requirements can be confirmed at HiKorea and the Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice.
Caution: If you do not complete the application at the overseas mission within the validity period of the Certificate of Visa Issuance, you have to start the whole process over.
Processing times vary widely by immigration office and depend on whether supplementary documents are requested.
Extensions and the Problems That Come Up Most
What Extension Review Looks At
The D-7 works by granting an initial period of stay and then extending it from there.
At extension, reviewers check whether the Korean entity is genuinely still operating and whether the transferee is actually doing the work that was reported.
If remittances from the head office stop, or there is no domestic revenue or operating track record, the extension stage is where it breaks down.
Common Problems
- Trying to keep D-7 status after leaving the head office
- The Korean branch closed but the required report was never filed
- Job duties changed but no change report was filed
- Realizing the family accompaniment (F-3) requirements too late
Practical tip: When there is a change of workplace or a reorganization, the reporting deadline runs from the date the change occurs. Missing the deadline exposes you to a fine, so it is safer to check as soon as anything changes.
For Readers Searching "Korea Work Visa D-7 Required Documents"
A lot of visitors arrive here after searching for something like Korea work visa D-7 required documents, particularly from Chinese-language searches.
That phrasing is where the misunderstanding starts.
The D-7 is not a general employment or manual-labor "work" visa.
If your goal is to find a new job in Korea and work there, the status to look at is E-7 (Specific Activities), E-9, or another category — not D-7.
Only moving into a Korean entity while remaining employed by the head office falls within the D-7's scope.
If you are unsure whether your situation is D-7 or E-7, the career and degree requirements differ between them, so getting an eligibility assessment first will save you time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. I haven't completed a full year at the head office. Can I still apply?
The rule is one year or more of continuous employment.
There are exceptional cases that get considered — such as the early stage of a newly established branch — but judgments vary case by case, so the career documents need to be reviewed first.
Q2. Can I get a D-7 if there is only a liaison office?
It is possible.
However, a liaison office is only recognized for non-sales activity, so the transferee's job description has to stay within that scope.
Q3. Can I bring my family?
Spouses and minor children typically stay together under F-3 (Accompanying Family) status.
The timing of the accompanying application and the required documents depend on the status of your own D-7 issuance.
Q4. Can I move from D-7 to F-2 or permanent residency?
If you meet the points-based requirements, a switch to F-2 can be considered.
The scoring categories and point allocations are revised frequently, so the current year's standards need to be confirmed separately.
Q5. How much does it cost?
Costs differ by case, so we give you exact figures during the free consultation.
The government portion consists of the officially published fee plus administrative processing charges.
Q6. I've prepared everything and still keep getting supplementary requests.
They usually repeat in two places: proving the relationship between the head office and the Korean entity, and explaining why the transfer is necessary.
The fastest approach is to look at what you already submitted and pinpoint which of the two is weak.
Need Professional Advice?
With the D-7, the outcome turns less on gathering documents than on how you explain the corporate structure.
Get the branch establishment stage wrong and you have to backtrack once you reach the visa stage.
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Vision Administrative Agency Services
- Filing branch and liaison office establishment reports for foreign companies
- Incorporation and registration procedures for foreign-invested companies
- Filing Certificate of Visa Issuance applications for the D-7 visa
- Status-of-stay assessment and changes, including D-8 and E-7
- Extensions of stay and family accompaniment (F-3) applications
- Responding to supplementary document requests and rebuilding files for reapplication
The approach varies depending on the case, so we review the documents you currently have on hand first, then walk you through the procedure.
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