Pathway

Germany Intra-Company Transfer Work Permit

Germany Residency

Last updated August 17, 2026

Pathway overview

At a glance

Germany's ICT Card is for intra-corporate transferees sent from a company outside the EU to a German entity in the same undertaking or group. It generally requires a manager, specialist, or paid trainee role, at least six months of prior group employment, a transfer longer than 90 days, and a work contract or assignment letter.

Type: Company-transfer residence
Transfer fit: Managers, specialists, and paid trainees sent to Germany
Core requirements: Group transfer, 6 months prior employment, contract, qualifications
What to know: Maximum 3 years for managers/specialists or 1 year for trainees
Salary requirement: Comparable local terms
Job offer required?: Yes (same company group)

Summary

Germany's ICT Card is a temporary permit for an intra-corporate transfer. It covers a third-country national employed by a company based outside the EU who is assigned temporarily to a German branch of that company or to a German company in the same corporate group.

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 statutory 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.

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 statutory 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 statutory 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

Related pathways

Switzerland Work Permit for Non-EU Workers

Norway Skilled Worker Residence Permit

U.S. Company Transfer Visa

Sources