Pathway

Germany Intra-Company Transfer Work Permit

Germany Residency

Updated October 8, 2026

Pathway overview

At a glance

If your employer outside the EU temporarily sends you to a related German business, Germany's intra-corporate transfer (ICT) card may suit you. The transfer must be within the same company or corporate group and meet the rules for the job and worker.

Job offer required?: An approved transfer within the same company group
Prior employment: At least six months with the group before transfer
Role and terms: Qualifying management, specialist, or paid graduate-trainee duties, with comparable local employment terms

Summary

Germany’s transfer permit is designed for an assignment within a company group, rather than recruitment by an unrelated business. The file must establish the relationship between the overseas and German entities, the worker’s prior employment, and a qualifying management, specialist, or paid graduate-trainee role.

It is limited to managers, specialists, and paid graduate trainees. It is not a general route for taking a new job with an unrelated German employer.

Eligibility

The transfer generally must meet all of these conditions:

The employer to which you belong is based outside the EU.
You do not have a right of free movement equivalent to that of an EU citizen.
The German host is a branch of that employer or another company in the same corporate group.
You have belonged continuously to the company or group for at least six months immediately before the transfer and will remain in the group throughout it.
The assignment in Germany will last more than 90 days.
You will not spend a longer part of a multi-country intra-corporate transfer in another EU member state than in Germany.
You have the professional qualifications required for the assignment.
A valid employment contract and, where needed, an assignment letter cover the full transfer.
The Federal Employment Agency approves the transfer. It checks that pay is no less favorable than for comparable German employees and that the other working conditions are no less favorable than for comparable posted workers.

The contract or assignment letter must state the German work location, role, pay, and other working conditions, and show that you can return after the transfer to a branch of the same company or group outside the EU.

The role must be one of the legal categories:

Manager: A person in a key position who mainly directs the host branch, a department, or a subdivision and has substantial supervisory or personnel responsibility.
Specialist: A person with essential specialist knowledge about the host's activities, procedures, or management, a high qualification level, and suitable experience.
Trainee: A paid person with a university degree in a structured program for professional development or training in business techniques or methods.

An ICT Card is not issued for a student internship. It is also refused if the German host was mainly created to facilitate ICT entry, another EU country will host the longest portion of the transfer, or a new application is filed less than six months after the last German ICT stay ended.

The transfer must connect two entities in the same group

Establish the corporate link Document the non-EU employer and German branch or group company.
Check role and employment history Confirm manager, specialist, or trainee duties and the required six months of prior continuous group employment.
Confirm the assignment pattern Germany must be the relevant main EU location and the assignment must exceed 90 days.
Prepare the transfer application Use the contract, assignment letter, group records, and qualification evidence.

An unrelated German job offer is not an intra-corporate transfer. The employment must remain within the qualifying group.

What This Route Allows

The ICT Card authorizes the specific temporary intra-group assignment described in the approved documents. It can be issued for:

Up to three years in total for a manager or specialist.
Up to one year in total for a trainee.

An extension cannot take the holder beyond those legal maximum periods. Qualifying travel or work in another EU member state may be possible under the ICT Directive's mobility rules, but it requires the separate notification or permit process applicable in that country.

What This Route Is Not

It is not a permit for a new local hire by an unrelated German company.
It is not available for every group employee; the role must fit manager, specialist, or paid graduate trainee.
It is not a student-internship route.
It is not permanent residence and is not renewable beyond the one- or three-year maximum.
It does not by itself authorize work for another employer or outside the approved assignment.

For an unrelated German job offer, compare the skilled-worker permit and EU Blue Card.

Next Steps

Map the legal relationship between the non-EU employer and the German host entity.
Confirm that Germany will be the main EU location and that the assignment will exceed 90 days.
Document at least six months of immediately prior, continuous employment with the company or group.
Match the actual duties to the legal manager, specialist, or trainee definition.
Prepare the employment contract, assignment letter, corporate-group evidence, qualification records, and return-to-group evidence.
If the transfer involves several EU countries, obtain advice on the Directive's short- and long-term mobility procedures before travel.

Germany Intra-Company Transfer Work Permit

At a glance

Summary

Eligibility

What This Route Allows

What This Route Is Not

Next Steps

Discussed in these reports

Sources

Germany Intra-Company Transfer Work Permit

At a glance

Summary

Eligibility

What This Route Allows

What This Route Is Not

Next Steps

Stay up to date on this pathway

Discussed in these reports

Explore other pathways

Switzerland Work Permit for Non-EU Workers

Norway Seasonal Worker Permit

U.S. Company Transfer Visa

Sources