Traveling overseas for work can be difficult on many grounds. Especially when it comes to official permits like visas, it can be a great challenge. A one-stop solution to visa problems for workers in a multinational company is the Intra Company Transfer Visa, or ICT visa.
It allows you to move temporarily to an overseas branch for work purposes. So, let’s not waste anymore time and get right into learning the basics of an ICT visa.
What is the meaning of Intra Company Transfer?
As can be deduced from the name, an intra-company transfer is a transfer in which an employee is relocated to a different physical office. Nowadays, this type of international transfer is very common, which is why many companies make it easier to obtain a visa.
What Is An ICT Visa?
An Intra Company Transfer Visa or ICT visa is a form of visa that allows you to travel and stay in a country to work in an eligible job at your employer’s overseas branch in that country. In short, it is a special visa that allows you to travel and work in one of your organization’s overseas branches. This is a very necessary visa for multinational companies and their employees.
If you are working for any company that has multiple branches across different countries, an ICT visa is an essential tool for you. An employee of such a company can easily be transferred to the overseas branch to complete a work-related assignment or project for the multinational company. This would otherwise be non-viable to do on a travel visa.
Processing And Duration Of the Intra Company transfer permit
ICT visas can be of any length, from short-term to long-term. You will need to work with your employer for one year before you can apply for the ICT visa. Depending on the laws of your country, the rules may vary.
Third-country nationals who are residents of one UE country must have a mobile ICT card in order to move to another UE country and continue working for the same employer. Permits for mobile ICT cards are available in both long- and short-term types. The time frame for the short term mobile ICT card is up to ninety days. The long-term mobile ICT card permit, on the other hand, is valid for more than ninety days.
In the case of the UE countries, if the company is registered as “fast-track” the processing time for the visa will move on a fast-track procedure. It will significantly reduce the processing time for your ICT UE visa.
The validity of an ICT permit is 3 years in the case of managers and specialists. In the case of trainees, the duration of validity is one year. An extension of the same permit is not done after this period. However, the member states have the discretion to apply for a cooling-off period for the intra-company transfer permit.
ICT Visa UE Cooling-Off Period
A cooling-off period is the time by which an employee needs to leave the country where they have transferred before they can re-apply for a new permit. It does not mean that the employee has no other options for leaving the country. There may be other work permits by the member states to allow the employee to continue their operations.
Some of the cooling-off periods for ICT visa UE permits are:
| Cooling-off Period | Countries |
| 6 months | Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia, Malta, Luxembourg |
| 4 months | Austria |
| 3 months | Italy, Lithuania |
| 0 months | Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. |
We can help you with the ICT Visa
An ICT visa is an essential tool when it comes to transferring overseas for your work projects and assignments without extra hassle. This allows you an easy entry and to continue working in different countries of the world under your employer or organization. Our worlwide immigration services can help you with the process.
Contact us to learn more about immigration and details on ICT visas.
