Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card

 Česky

Basic information

What is an Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card?

The Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card is a new type of authorisation for long-term residence in the Territory of the Czech Republic where the purpose of residence (longer than 3 months) of the foreign national is to perform work in the position of manager, specialist or employed intern to which the foreign national has been transferred.

A foreign national to whom the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic has issued an Intra‑Company Employee Transfer Card is entitled to:

• stay in the Territory of the Czech Republic and also

• perform work in the position of a manger, specialist or employed intern to which he/she has been transferred from a country that is not a European Union member state.
   

The Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card is a plastic card with biometric components.

The Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card is issued for the duration of transfer to the territory of EU member states, but only to a maximum of 3 years for a manager and specialist and for 1 year for an employed intern. The card may be extended repeatedly to cover the duration of transfer to the territory of member states of the European Union, to a maximum of 3 years for a manager and specialist and for 1 year for an employed intern.

The Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card (ICT Card) is issued for the duration of a transfer to the territory of the EU member states and its validity could be extended repeatedly. However, a stay of its holder in the territory of the EU member states, as well as the duration of the transfer to the territory, must not exceed the duration of 3 years (in the case of the transfer of a manager or a specialist) and the duration of 1 year (in the case of the transfer of an employed intern) in total.

Example:
A Third-country national, who is an employee of a corporation based in the country that is not a member state of the European Union, will be transferred as a manager to the branch of this corporation placed in the territory of the Czech Republic for the duration of 2 years. The ICT Card will be issued him with a validity of 2 years. Then, before the expiration of the validity of the ICT Card, a Third-country national and his employer arrange an extension of the duration of the transfer for another 4 years. In this case, a Third-Country national will be eligible to submit the application for an extending the validity of the ICT Card but it will be possible to extend its validity for the duration of 1 year maximally. The maximum duration of the transfer could not be longer than 3 years in total.

The deadline for a decision on an Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card is 90 days.
 

Who is the Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card intended for?

The Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card is intended for intra-company transferred managers, specialists and employed interns.

In simple terms, intra-company transfer is the temporary transfer of an employee of a multinational company from a functioning section of a multinational company in a country that is not a member state of the European Union to a functioning section (a branch) of the company located in the Czech Republic.

According to Section 42k(3) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll., a manager means a foreign national working in a management position which primarily runs a commercial corporation or subsidiary or part thereof, whose activities are monitored by and who follows the instructions of the governing body, supreme body or control body; a manager runs the commercial corporation or subsidiary or part thereof, oversees other employees performing supervisory, professional or running activities and monitoring thereof, including the power to hire or dismiss such persons or to take different personnel-related measures.

According to 42k(4) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll. a specialist means a foreign national who has specialised knowledge that is fundamental for the area of operations, procedures or management of the commercial corporation or subsidiary and who also has the required level of qualification and professional experience and, if applicable, is a member of a professional association, if special legislation so stipulates.

According to 42k(5) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll. an employed intern means a foreign national who has duly completed higher education, is transferred to a commercial corporation or subsidiary based in the Czech Republic for the purpose of career development or training in the field of commercial techniques and methods and who receives payment of a salary or wage for the duration of his/her transfer.

The Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card is intended for foreign nationals of all states of the world, with the exception of

• citizens of EU/EEA member states and Switzerland and a

• their family members who are citizens of other states and hold residence cards for family members of an EU citizen (or, in the case of the family members of a citizen of an EEA state or Switzerland, a foreign national’s residence card) or have applied for such.
   

Furthermore, the foreign nationals listed in Section 42k(6) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll. (an applicant for long-term residence for the purpose of research, a foreign national who is employed by an employer from a different member state of the European Union sent to perform work as part of multinational provision of services in the territory of Czech Republic, etc.) are also not entitled to lodge an application for an Intra-Company Employee Transfer Card.

Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, July 12th, 2023