Opening in Dubai: Staffing a Japanese Restaurant from Head Office

Japanese restaurant companies planning a Dubai opening tend to ask the same question: the head chef will come from Japan, so how do we fill everything else? UAE work permits are issued to the employer, with no points test and no labour market test. The paperwork is not the hard part. What shapes the staffing plan is the company's trade licence, the social insurance position of anyone sent from Japan, and the fact that Dubai has almost no settled pool of Japanese cooks.

This guide looks at a Dubai opening from the point of view of a Japanese head office. The UAE permit and labour law details are covered in Hiring a Japanese chef in Dubai, so here we stick to what affects the opening plan.

1. Dubai's Japanese community and market in numbers

• Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) counted 5,300 Japanese nationals in the UAE on 1 October 2025, up 11.0% on the year. Of these, 5,068 were long-term stayers and only 232 were permanent residents.
• Dubai had 3,433 Japanese nationals, up 13.2%.
• Japan's agriculture ministry (MAFF) counted about 1,600 Japanese restaurants in the Middle East in its survey published on 28 November 2025, roughly 20% more than in 2023. MAFF points to interest in healthy eating.

The number to notice is the permanent residents. In cities like Los Angeles or Sydney, a large settled Japanese community means you can look locally for Japanese-speaking cooks. In the UAE almost every Japanese resident is there because of a job or a family sponsor. It is safer to assume that any Japanese chef already in Dubai is working for someone else.

2. Matching permit types to the opening plan

According to the UAE government portal, Article 6 of the UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) makes it illegal to work without a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), and employers may not recruit or employ anyone without one. MOHRE issues 13 types of work permit. Four matter for an opening.

The conditions include that the occupation matches the company's business activity, that the trade licence is valid and free of violations, and that the application comes from someone authorised to represent the company. The first thing to check in the opening plan is whether the licence you hold or are applying for covers restaurant operation. If it does not, the chef's permit application stalls.

Issuing or renewing a work permit costs AED 250 to AED 3,450, depending on the company's MOHRE classification (A, B or C). The classification reflects compliance with the labour law and the Wages Protection System, among other things, and companies with a record of violations are placed in category C. MOHRE may also refuse to issue or renew permits for an establishment that does not comply with the Wages Protection System. Set up payroll to meet it before you open.

3. Social insurance and tax for staff sent from Japan

There is no social security agreement

According to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (as of 2 June 2026), Japan has social security agreements in force with 24 countries. One more (Poland) is signed, negotiations are under way with Turkey, Norway and Vietnam, and preliminary talks are listed with Thailand. The UAE is in none of these groups, so the agreement mechanism that keeps a seconded employee in the Japanese system only, and exempts them from the host country's, is not available.

The Japan Pension Service explains that when an employee keeps their employment relationship with a Japanese employer while working abroad, and the Japanese employer pays some or all of their salary, their Japanese health insurance and employees' pension coverage generally continues. If you second someone to Dubai on those terms, budget on the basis that Japanese social insurance continues, and ask a local adviser what applies on the UAE side. The wider picture is in our guide to pension and health insurance for chefs working abroad.

There is a tax treaty

Japan's Ministry of Finance lists a tax treaty with the UAE, signed on 2 May 2013 and in force since 24 December 2014 (list as of 26 June 2026). The National Tax Agency explains that an employee transferred or seconded abroad for a planned period of one year or more is generally a non-resident for Japanese income tax. Pay for work done abroad by a non-resident employee is not Japanese-source income, so no Japanese withholding applies. The year-end tax adjustment is done before departure. See tax for employees working abroad for detail.

4. What hiring locally really looks like

A Japanese chef you hire locally in Dubai will almost certainly already hold a work permit with another employer. Hiring them needs a transfer permit, and their current contract terms and resignation process come into it. A plan that depends on hiring people away from other restaurants is hard to pin down on numbers or timing.

In practice, local hiring centres on non-Japanese cooks with Japanese kitchen experience and on front of house staff. The same rules apply to them: the occupation must match the business activity and each person needs a permit. For training them, see Training local staff in Japanese cuisine.

5. Deciding where each role comes from

Taken together, it makes sense to decide the source for each role separately.

6. The order of work

1. Confirm that the trade licence activity covers restaurant operation.
2. Check the company's MOHRE classification and estimate permit costs.
3. Estimate headcount and check whether Emiratisation applies.
4. Decide who comes from Japan, whether as a secondment or a new hire, and settle Japanese social insurance and which entity pays the salary.
5. Set job titles and pay for local roles and start advertising.
6. Decide the size and length of the opening support team and whether mission permits are needed.
7. Before departure, run the year-end tax adjustment for secondees and brief them on resident tax and overseas residence registration.

How to build the full staffing timeline for an opening is covered in our overseas opening staffing plan, and the choice between secondment and local hire in secondment vs local hire.

General information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. UAE permit conditions and fees, and Japanese social insurance and tax treatment, can change. Check the official sources below, verified in September 2026, and consult MOHRE, a local adviser, the pension office or the tax office as needed.