Intra-Company Transfer Visa
The Intra-Company Transfer Visa lets a multinational move an existing employee from an overseas entity to its South African branch, subsidiary or affiliate. It is valid for up to four years and cannot be renewed, so it suits a defined assignment rather than an open-ended relocation. The work is in proving the corporate link and the prior employment, and planning around the four-year ceiling.
Free assessment. A client manager will call you.
Eligibility
Existing employment with the overseas entity
You must already be employed by the foreign company, generally for at least six months before the transfer. The visa moves an existing employee; it is not a route for a new hire.
A genuine corporate link to the South African entity
The transfer has to be to a South African branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the same corporate group. You will need documentation proving the relationship between the foreign employer and the South African entity.
A defined assignment within four years
The visa is valid for up to four years and cannot be renewed. It is built for an assignment that fits inside that window, after which you either return to the overseas entity or move to a different visa category.
Police clearances and passport
A valid passport and police clearance for each country you have lived in for twelve months or more after the age of eighteen, during the five years before your application.
From free assessment to approval
Confirm the transfer and the corporate link
We confirm the employee qualifies, the prior-employment period is met, and the relationship between the overseas employer and the South African entity can be evidenced before any money is spent.
Assemble the documentation
Transfer letters from the sending and receiving entities, the employment contract, proof of the corporate relationship, passport and police clearances are assembled and reviewed.
2-4 weeks
Submission
Submissions are in person. If you are our client, we can personally accompany and support you at the VFS centres in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg. If you submit at a South African mission abroad, we prepare you fully and guide you through the process, but we cannot attend with you.
Adjudication and relocation
The Department of Home Affairs adjudicates; timelines vary substantially by mission and workload. Once granted, the employee relocates for the assignment.
8-26 weeks
Mistakes that cost a refusal
Thinking the four years can be extended. The ICT Visa cannot be renewed. After four years you must return abroad or qualify for another visa category, and that has to be planned for from the start.
Underdocumenting the corporate link. The relationship between the foreign employer and the South African entity (branch, subsidiary or affiliate) has to be evidenced; a vague group connection is not enough.
Treating it as a route to residence. The ICT Visa has no direct pathway to permanent residence; reaching residence means switching to another category.
Submitting before the prior-employment period is met. You generally need at least six months of employment with the transferring company before the transfer.
How the route works in practice
The Intra-Company Transfer Visa exists for one situation: a multinational that already employs someone abroad and wants to move them to its South African branch, subsidiary or affiliate. Because the employee is already inside the group, the route sidesteps the recruitment questions that attach to an outside hire. What it asks for instead is solid proof of the corporate relationship and of the existing employment.
Its defining feature is the four-year ceiling, and the fact that it cannot be renewed.
A defined assignment, not an open-ended move
The ICT Visa is valid for up to four years, and that is the end of it: there is no renewal. It is designed for a bounded assignment, a project, a regional posting, a knowledge-transfer secondment, that fits inside four years. When the four years are up, the employee either returns to the overseas entity or moves to a different visa category, and that has to be planned for before the deadline rather than discovered at it. Treating the ICT Visa as a quiet path to a permanent move is the mistake that catches people out, because the route gives no direct pathway to permanent residence.
Proving the corporate link
The application turns on the relationship between the foreign employer and the South African entity. You will need transfer letters from both the sending and the receiving company, the employment contract, and documentation establishing that the South African entity is a genuine branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the same group. You will also generally need to show at least six months of prior employment with the transferring company. A loose group connection is not enough; the corporate link has to be evidenced clearly.
What it means for the employee
The visa lets the transferred employee live and work in South Africa for the assignment, and their family is not left behind: a spouse or life partner and dependent children can apply for accompanying visas, and children can study. An accompanying partner visa carries no right to work, so a partner who wants to work needs a work visa of their own, and we look at which one fits.
What we do
What we offer is a South African team that pressure-tests the corporate link, assembles the transfer documentation from both entities so it is internally consistent, plans around the four-year ceiling, and gets the submission right first time. If your company is planning a transfer into South Africa, the next step is a focused conversation about the role, the corporate structure and the timeline.
What that buys you
We pressure-test the corporate link early, because the application turns on clear evidence of the branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship.
We assemble the transfer documentation from both the sending and receiving entities so the file is internally consistent and goes in once.
We plan around the four-year, non-renewable ceiling from the start, so the assignment and any onward visa are mapped before, not after, the deadline.
We are clear that the ICT route has no direct path to permanent residence, so neither the company nor the employee builds a plan on a route that does not exist.
We work on a transparent flat fee, quoted once we understand your case. We do not publish prices because the right number is the case-specific one.
Sources
South African immigration is decided by the Department of Home Affairs. These are the official pages behind what you have just read, so you can check it against the source rather than take our word for it.
- Department of Home Affairs: immigration services
Authoritative for visa and permit categories, requirements and application channels.
Guided by our team in Cape Town
Every page here is maintained by Intergate Immigration’s client managers in Cape Town, the same people who handle your case from the free assessment to approval.
Meet the team
Questions people ask
Who qualifies for an Intra-Company Transfer Visa?
An existing employee of a foreign company, generally employed for at least six months, who is being transferred to a South African branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the same corporate group. It moves an existing employee rather than enabling a new hire.
How long is the ICT Visa valid?
Up to four years. It is built for a defined assignment that fits inside that window.
Can the ICT Visa be renewed?
No. The ICT Visa cannot be renewed. After four years the employee either returns to the overseas entity or, if eligible, moves to a different visa category. That ceiling needs planning for from the outset.
What documentation proves the corporate link?
Transfer letters from both the sending and receiving entities, the employment contract, and documentation showing the relationship between the foreign employer and the South African entity as a branch, subsidiary or affiliate. A vague group connection is not sufficient.
Does the ICT Visa lead to permanent residence?
Not directly. It has no built-in residence pathway. An employee who wants to settle longer term would need to move to another visa category that does, which we can map out.
Can my family come with me?
Yes. A spouse or life partner and dependent children can apply for accompanying visas, and children can study in South Africa. Note that an accompanying partner visa carries no right to work; a partner who wants to work needs a work visa of their own.
Speak with our South African team.
A focused conversation about your situation, the route that fits and your timeline, before any money is spent.
Free assessment. A client manager will call you.