Greece intra-corporate transfer E.2: when a group moves a manager instead of hiring

The E.2 residence permit covers a worker already employed by a company in a third country who is transferred to a company of the same group in Greece. Its basis is Directive 2014/66/EU of 15 May 2014, transposed into Chapter C of Law 5038/2023, as recorded in the National Register of Administrative Procedures.

The difference from the E.4 metaklisi is substantive, not procedural. In a metaklisi the Greek employer hires a new worker and the position passes through the annual quota. Under E.2 there is no hiring. The employment relationship stays with the third-country company and the worker is posted temporarily to the Greek entity of the group.

Which roles it covers, and which it does not

Law 5038/2023 recognises three roles in an intra-corporate transfer: managers, specialists and trainee employees. The classification follows the duties, not the job title, and it has to be evident from the contract and from the transfer letter.

Two conditions are assessed first. The worker must be employed by a third-country company belonging to the same group as the host company in Greece, and the relationship between the two entities must be proved with corporate documents rather than a declaration. The E.2 permit does not cover a worker recruited directly by the Greek company. That case belongs to the E.4 metaklisi procedure.

E.2 or E.4: the comparison the group actually makes

The quota line in the table is the one that redirects a plan. A metaklisi approval is issued only where the joint ministerial decision still holds a slot for that occupation in that region, so a post outside the allocation waits for the next decision. An intra-corporate transfer is not counted against that allocation, because nobody is being hired in Greece. That is why a group with a subsidiary in Athens looks at E.2 first when the person it needs is a manager or a specialist already on the payroll abroad.

Duration is the point most often overlooked. The E.2 permit runs for one year, or for the length of the transfer where that is shorter, according to the National Register of Administrative Procedures. An eight month transfer produces an eight month permit, and extending the project in Greece does not extend the permit on its own.

Timeline, cost and the error that keeps repeating

An initial E.2 grant requires an intra-corporate transfer entry visa. The worker does not enter on a tourist visa or a business visit visa and sort the paperwork out on arrival. The specific visa is issued by the Greek consular authority of his place of legal residence, on the logic set out in the national type D entry visa.

The order of steps is fixed. The host company in Greece assembles the corporate documents proving the group relationship, then comes the transfer letter stating role, duration and remuneration, then the consular authority issues the visa, and after arrival the residence permit application is filed with the one stop service of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. Costs include the residence permit fee, the consular charge, and sworn translation with Hague apostille of the third-country corporate documents, which is usually the most expensive part of the file.

The error that keeps repeating is a single one. The group sends the manager on a three month visitor visa, assuming the transfer will be regularised while he is already in Athens. An E.2 permit is not granted that way, the worker returns to the country of origin to apply for the correct visa, and the project loses a full cycle. The permit category is decided before departure and not after arrival, as it is for every category of the Migration Code 5038/2023. The employers page shows which documents the host company prepares and which the parent does.