Multinational companies, or groups of multinational companies, sometimes need to transfer their staff to companies belonging to the same group. In this context, multinational companies or groups of multinational companies from third countries, need to transfer their staff to work temporarily - for more than 90 days - to one or more companies located within the European Union (EU) and belonging to the same group as that operating in a third country. This transfer/secondment is called an intra-corporate transfer, meaning a transfer within the same group of companies and the transferees are called intra-corporate transferees.

Given the above, European and consequently Cypriot legislation has standardized the rules for these transfers to the EU, in order to ensure that the persons concerned (third-country nationals) are treated fairly when transferred and entering the EU for work. In addition to the terms and conditions applicable to transferred third-country nationals, the legislation also lays down the terms and conditions that should apply to their families. This issue is regulated by the Aliens and Immigration Law (Cap. 105) in which the Act of the European Union entitled "Directive 2014/66/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer" has been harmonized in Cypriot law.

In addition, the legislation provides for a mechanism whereby the transferee can perform his duties in several companies belonging to the same group and located in the same or different EU countries. The ability to move between companies located in different EU countries is called mobility.