Transferring Employees to Japan from Overseas

Here, let’s take a look at a type of working visa required when transferring a worker from outside into Japan.

Intra-Company Transferee Visa

This type of visa is required when a company transfers its worker from outside into Japan. The eligibility for this visa is not too demanding as the applicant worker is already employed by the company who is applying for the visa. As to whether a certain company is considered a parent company or its subsidiary, it is stipulated in other laws and regulations.

Eligibility for Visa Acquisition

The applicant is supposed to have had more than one year of job experience at a workplace outside Japan immediately before the transfer. In the case of an intra-company transfer, the academic background is irrelevant.

The transferred worker needs to engage in a job that falls under the category of “Engineer, Specialist in Humanities/International Services.”

This visa type does not assume that the transferred worker stays in Japan permanently. The length of transfer period should be clearly defined. While there is no definitive limit to the length of period, it is commonly set to around 5 years. With a reasonable basis, the stay period can be extended.

It is not justifiable to treat foreign workers differently from Japanese workers based on their nationality. Regardless of the nationality, equivalent pay must be assured for equivalent job/skill.