D-7 Visa Documents: Full Checklist — Intra-Company Transfer Eligibility and Preparation Order
D-7 visa documents fall into two bundles — one from the overseas head office, one from the Korean branch — and the first thing reviewers actually look at is the part proving the two entities belong to the same corporate group.
The visa is for essential specialized personnel who have worked at an overseas head office for at least one year and are then dispatched to a Korean branch, liaison office, or subsidiary.
Below we walk through eligibility requirements, the document list, the branch establishment filing sequence, the application process, and the points where applications most often stall in practice.
D-7 eligibility turns on relationships, not job titles
Governing law and scope of the status
The Intra-Company Transferee (D-7) status is set out in Annex 1-2, Item 10 of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act.
The provision covers people who have worked for at least one year at the head office, a branch, or another business site of a foreign public institution, organization, or company, and who are being dispatched as essential specialized personnel to that entity's affiliate, subsidiary, branch, or office in Korea.
Here is the crux.
Before anyone evaluates how capable you are, they evaluate the relationship between the sending entity and the receiving entity.
What "essential specialized personnel" actually means
This is the phrase applicants misread most often.
Ordinary clerical work, sales roles, or general administration are hard to get recognized. What needs to come through is a role at the executive, managerial, or specialized technical level — someone transmitting the head office's management policy or proprietary technology to the Korean organization.
Even with "Director" on the business card, a weak description of actual duties gets flagged right here.
Note: A liaison office that conducts no profit-making activity and a branch that generates revenue are treated differently in terms of how many transferees are recognized and how broadly their duties can be defined. Determining which category your company falls into means reviewing the entity structure first.
D-7 visa document list — head office side and Korean branch side
Applicant and head office documents
| Item | Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application for Certificate for Visa Issuance | Integrated application form (Form No. 17) | Use the HiKorea form |
| Passport copy | Bio-data page, check validity | At least 6 months remaining recommended |
| Standard-size photo | Taken within the last 6 months | Non-compliant photos are rejected |
| Certificate of employment (head office) | State employment period, position, duties | Confirms 1+ year of service |
| Dispatch order | Assignment period, location, position, rationale | Signed and sealed by head office representative |
| Proof of head office incorporation | Local corporate registry or business registration equivalent | Apostille or consular authentication |
| Degree certificate / career records | Evidence of job relevance | Submit if applicable |
| Salary documentation | Head office payroll records, income evidence | Confirms who pays after transfer |
Korean branch documents
| Item | Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of acceptance of branch establishment filing | Issued by the designated foreign exchange bank | Effectively a prerequisite for D-7 |
| Copy of business registration certificate | In the name of the branch or liaison office | Include the tax ID certificate if applicable |
| Certified copy of corporate registry | Once branch registration is complete | For a subsidiary, the subsidiary's registry |
| Proof of relationship with head office | Equity structure, ownership percentage, org chart | The core of affiliation verification |
| Office lease agreement | Confirms a physical place of business | May be subject to a site visit |
| Statement of dispatch necessity | Business plan, scope of work in Korea | Persuasiveness beats page count |
You can submit a thick stack of documents, but if the affiliation evidence is thin, everything else being tidy won't stop a supplementation request.
Practical tip: For documents issued abroad, whether you need an apostille or consular authentication depends on whether the issuing country is a party to the Apostille Convention. Once certified translation is added, the timeline stretches — so it's safer to start with the head office documents first.
The branch establishment filing comes before the documents
Procedure under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act
For a foreign company to open a branch or liaison office in Korea, it must file a domestic branch establishment report with a designated foreign exchange bank under Article 18 of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and Chapter 9 of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulations.
Certain sectors such as finance and insurance file with the Minister of Economy and Finance rather than a bank, so the route differs.
Gathering D-7 documents without this certificate of acceptance usually means the process stops right here.
If you choose to establish a subsidiary
Instead of a branch, you can incorporate a Korean company as a subsidiary.
That path runs through foreign investment notification under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act plus corporate registration, and depending on the investment size, D-8 sometimes turns out to be the better fit.
In a recent consultation, a client started as a branch and then redesigned as a subsidiary because of how their Korean revenue was structured.
Which structure suits your company can only be judged by looking at the industry and the flow of funds together.
The one-year employment requirement and its exceptions
How the period is counted
The one year is measured as continuous service at the head office or an overseas business site as of the transfer date.
If there's a resignation and rehire somewhere in the middle, the calculation gets tangled easily.
When the employment certificate lists only dates and leaves out the substance of the work, reviewers often circle back to re-verify the employment itself.
When exceptions apply
Where the head office is a listed company or otherwise meets certain criteria, the employment-period requirement may be applied in a relaxed form.
That said, these criteria are administered through visa issuance guidelines from the Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice and are revised frequently.
Whether your company qualifies for relaxed treatment starts with checking this year's applicable guidelines, and confirmation with the competent authority is necessary.
For exact costs and procedures, please confirm through a professional consultation.
Request a free consultation now → 02-363-2251 / KakaoTalk: alexkorea
Application process and processing time
| Stage | What happens | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | File branch establishment report, receive certificate of acceptance | Designated foreign exchange bank |
| Stage 2 | Business registration and branch registration | Tax office, registry office |
| Stage 3 | Apply for Certificate for Visa Issuance | Korean inviter (the branch) |
| Stage 4 | Notification of visa issuance confirmation number | Immigration office |
| Stage 5 | Visa application and issuance at overseas mission | The applicant |
| Stage 6 | Alien registration after entry | Competent immigration office |
Application forms and filing channels can be found at HiKorea.
Processing times vary by immigration office and shift considerably depending on whether supplementation is requested, so during a consultation we identify the fastest viable route for your case.
The period of stay is granted within the maximum single-grant limit, after which you go through an extension review.
Note: The Certificate for Visa Issuance has an expiration date. If you don't obtain the visa at an overseas mission within that window, it lapses and you start over from the beginning.
Where applications most often stall
The reason for the transfer matters more than the paperwork
If the explanation of why the transfer is necessary is thin, supplementation requests repeat no matter how well the documents are assembled.
It has to be clear why this specific person is needed in the Korean organization and why a domestic hire can't fill the role.
Better a version where the link between the person's duties and the head office's operations is visible at a glance than a longer one.
An office that doesn't really exist
If there's an address but no verifiable working space, you get blocked right here.
With shared offices, reviewers have asked about the contract type and whether there's dedicated space.
Unclear who pays the salary
When documents disagree about whether the salary comes from the head office or the Korean branch, credibility drops.
Liaison offices are restricted from profit-making activity, so how the compensation structure is arranged makes a real difference.
Costs vary case by case, so we'll give you exact figures during your free consultation.
D-7, D-8, and E-7 compared
| Category | D-7 Intra-Company Transfer | D-8 Corporate Investment | E-7 Special Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prerequisite | Overseas head office exists, branch established | Foreign investment notified and paid in | Employment by a Korean company |
| Key document | Certificate of acceptance of branch filing | Foreign-invested company registration certificate | Employment contract, degree/career records |
| Experience requirement | One year of service as a rule | Centers on investor status | Education/experience standards by occupation |
| Equity requirement | None | Investment amount required | None |
| Best suited for | Managers transferred from head office | Managing after direct investment | Hired by a Korean company |
Which status works in your favor depends on the head office's ownership structure and your revenue plans in Korea.
It's common for the same person to be a candidate under all three, so sorting out the status choice before filing saves time.
Frequently asked questions
Q1. Which D-7 visa document should I prepare first?
The certificate of acceptance of the foreign company's Korean branch establishment filing.
Without it, you can gather every other document and still struggle to get past the filing stage.
Q2. Is there any option if I have less than one year at the head office?
The rule is one year or more, but there's room for relaxed application depending on the head office's size and listing status.
Since the criteria are administered through guidelines and revised often, checking whether your case qualifies comes first.
Q3. Can I bring my family with me?
Spouses and minor children can apply for Dependent Family (F-3) status.
Apostille and translation issues with family relationship documents often add time.
Q4. Can a liaison office sponsor a D-7?
Yes.
But since liaison offices are restricted from profit-making activity, the recognized headcount and scope of duties are viewed more narrowly than for a branch.
Q5. If my application is rejected once, can I reapply?
Reapplication is possible.
Resubmitting the same documents unchanged gets caught for the same reason, so the first step is pinpointing exactly why it was rejected.
Q6. How much does it cost?
The structure is government-set fees plus administrative processing costs.
Costs vary case by case, so we'll give you exact figures during your free consultation.
Need professional advice?
D-7 is a status where the explanation of the relationship between the head office and the Korean branch gets reviewed before anyone counts the documents.
Choosing the wrong branch structure means rebuilding the paperwork, and the transfer schedule slips in the process.
The points that are hardest to handle alone are usually selecting the filing route under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and assembling the dispatch necessity materials.
VISION Administrative Office services
- Filing agency for foreign company Korean branch (branch/liaison office) establishment
- Support for foreign investment notification and corporate establishment procedures
- D-7 Certificate for Visa Issuance application and document review
- Review of stay extensions and status changes
- Concurrent processing of Dependent Family (F-3) visas
Consultation information
- Office: VISION Administrative Office
- Phone: 02-363-2251
- KakaoTalk: alexkorea
- Email: 5000meter@gmail.com
- Address: 3F, Seongwoo Building, 324 Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (04614)
Relevant laws and forms are available at the Korean Law Information Center, HiKorea, and the Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice. Detailed criteria are subject to revision, so confirmation with the competent authority is necessary.
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