This Directive lays down:
the conditions of entry to, and residence for more than 90 days in, the territory of the Member States, and the rights, of third-country nationals and of their family members in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer;
the conditions of entry and residence, and the rights, of third-country nationals, referred to in point (a), in Member States other than the Member State which first grants the third-country national an intra-corporate transferee permit on the basis of this Directive.
1.This Directive shall apply to third-country nationals who reside outside the territory of the Member States at the time of application and apply to be admitted or who have been admitted to the territory of a Member State under the terms of this Directive, in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer as managers, specialists or trainee employees.
2.This Directive shall not apply to third-country nationals who:
(a)apply to reside in a Member State as researchers, within the meaning of Directive 2005/71/EC, in order to carry out a research project;
(b)under agreements between the Union and its Member States and third countries, enjoy rights of free movement equivalent to those of Union citizens or are employed by an undertaking established in those third countries;
(c)are posted in the framework of Directive 96/71/EC;
(d)carry out activities as self-employed workers;
(e)are assigned by employment agencies, temporary work agencies or any other undertakings engaged in making available labour to work under the supervision and direction of another undertaking;
(f)are admitted as full-time students or who are undergoing a short-term supervised practical training as part of their studies.
3.This Directive shall be without prejudice to the right of Member States to issue residence permits, other than the intra-corporate transferee permit covered by this Directive, for any purpose of employment for third-country nationals who fall outside the scope of this Directive.
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:
‘third-country national’ means any person who is not a citizen of the Union, within the meaning of Article 20(1) TFEU;
‘intra-corporate transfer’ means the temporary secondment for occupational or training purposes of a third-country national who, at the time of application for an intra-corporate transferee permit, resides outside the territory of the Member States, from an undertaking established outside the territory of a Member State, and to which the third-country national is bound by a work contract prior to and during the transfer, to an entity belonging to the undertaking or to the same group of undertakings which is established in that Member State, and, where applicable, the mobility between host entities established in one or several second Member States;
‘intra-corporate transferee’ means any third-country national who resides outside the territory of the Member States at the time of application for an intra-corporate transferee permit and who is subject to an intra-corporate transfer;
‘host entity’ means the entity to which the intra-corporate transferee is transferred, regardless of its legal form, established, in accordance with national law, in the territory of a Member State;
‘manager’ means a person holding a senior position, who primarily directs the management of the host entity, receiving general supervision or guidance principally from the board of directors or shareholders of the business or equivalent; that position shall include: directing the host entity or a department or subdivision of the host entity; supervising and controlling work of the other supervisory, professional or managerial employees; having the authority to recommend hiring, dismissing or other personnel action;
‘specialist’ means a person working within the group of undertakings possessing specialised knowledge essential to the host entity's areas of activity, techniques or management. In assessing such knowledge, account shall be taken not only of knowledge specific to the host entity, but also of whether the person has a high level of qualification including adequate professional experience referring to a type of work or activity requiring specific technical knowledge, including possible membership of an accredited profession;
‘trainee employee’ means a person with a university degree who is transferred to a host entity for career development purposes or in order to obtain training in business techniques or methods, and is paid during the transfer;
‘family members’ means the third-country nationals referred to in Article 4(1) of Council Directive 2003/86/EC(1);
‘intra-corporate transferee permit’ means an authorisation bearing the acronym ‘ICT’ entitling its holder to reside and work in the territory of the first Member State and, where applicable, of second Member States, under the terms of this Directive;
‘permit for long-term mobility’ means an authorisation bearing the term ‘mobile ICT’ entitling the holder of an intra-corporate transferee permit to reside and work in the territory of the second Member State under the terms of this Directive;
‘single application procedure’ means the procedure leading, on the basis of one application for the authorisation for residence and work of a third-country national in the territory of a Member State, to a decision on that application;
‘group of undertakings’ means two or more undertakings recognised as linked under national law in the following ways: an undertaking, in relation to another undertaking directly or indirectly, holds a majority of that undertaking's subscribed capital; controls a majority of the votes attached to that undertaking's issued share capital; is entitled to appoint more than half of the members of that undertaking's administrative, management or supervisory body; or the undertakings are managed on a unified basis by the parent undertaking;
‘first Member State’ means the Member State which first issues a third-country national an intra-corporate transferee permit;
‘second Member State’ means any Member State in which the intra-corporate transferee intends to exercise or exercises the right of mobility within the meaning of this Directive, other than the first Member State;
‘regulated profession’ means a regulated profession as defined in point (a) of Article 3(1) of Directive 2005/36/EC.
1.This Directive shall apply without prejudice to more favourable provisions of:
(a)Union law, including bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded between the Union and its Member States on the one hand and one or more third countries on the other;
(b)bilateral or multilateral agreements concluded between one or more Member States and one or more third countries.
2.This Directive shall not affect the right of Member States to adopt or retain more favourable provisions for third-country nationals to whom it applies in respect of point (h) of Article 3, and Articles 15, 18 and 19.
Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification (OJ L 251, 3.10.2003, p. 12).