The Irish Intra Company Transfer (ICT ) is a temporary immigration service, which permits foreign nationals to migrate to Ireland in order to perform a specific role for a particular Irish-based company.
The key role of an ICT application is to allow Irish businesses to bring key personnel from an overseas branch to Ireland to attend to a specific need.
An Irish visa of this kind is not intended as a route to permanent residence in Ireland and the applicant must return to his or her country of residence before or upon the expiry of this type of Irish working permit.
Benefits
Unlike applying for an Irish work permit or making an Irish Green Card application, visas of this kind may only be applied for by the employer.
In Ireland, immigration on a temporary basis through an Irish ICT application is designed with the employer in mind, and accordingly the benefits are weighted towards the company petitioning for the applicant immigrating to Ireland.
ICT’s are a system whereby an Irish company can bring a senior staff member, key personnel or in some cases trainees, to perform services which cannot be undertaken by any employees in Ireland or to receive training in Ireland which is unavailable in another country where a branch of the operation is based.
Eligibility
The duration of an Irish Intra Company Transfer depends on the reason of the transfer of an employee from an overseas branch to one of the branches in Ireland. An Intra Company Transfer can be issued for a maximum period of 24 months for senior employees. If required, it can be extended up to 5 years.
Where candidates fall into the categories of either key personnel or senior staff members, the following requirements must be satisfied: applicants must earn a minimum of €40,000 per year and they must have worked for the overseas branch of the company for at least 12 months before the transfer can be applied for.
An Intra Company Transfer is issued generally for a year when applicants are transferred to the UK branch of a company, for the purpose of undergoing training. During application for ICT details of the training program is to be submitted.
Immigration for Spouse and Dependants
An Irish Intra Company Transfer is not meant for permanent residency in Ireland. But other than the trainee level, a senior employee can reside here for a maximum of 5 years. Successful applicants for Irish Intra Company Transfer are allowed to bring his/her spouse, children and dependant family members to Ireland. The family members of the main applicant are allowed to reside in the country as long as he/she stays here with an Irish Intra Company Transfer.