Sponsor a Chef on a 482 Visa in Australia: Steps and Total Cost

To sponsor a chef from Japan, you become a standard business sponsor, advertise the job twice for four weeks within the four months before you nominate (unless an exemption applies), and nominate at or above the Core Skills Income Threshold of A$79,423. The chef then applies for the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa. For a restaurant under A$10 million turnover, a four year nomination costs A$9,565 in government charges. Year one comes to about A$98,500 with salary and super.

Chef or Cook, and the caveats that sink nominations

Chef (ANZSCO 351311) and Cook (351411) are both on the Core Skills Occupation List, both with caveats 3 and 4. Caveat 3 excludes positions involved in mass production in a factory setting. Caveat 4 excludes positions in a limited service restaurant, which the instrument defines to include fast food or takeaway, fast casual restaurants, drinking places with only a limited food service, limited service cafes and limited service pizza restaurants.

Write the position description from what the person will actually do. Describing a counter service shop as full service is the kind of mismatch that gets a nomination refused.

The five steps in order

1. Standard business sponsorship in ImmiAccount (A$420, valid 5 years). You can lodge it with the nomination, but the nomination cannot be approved first.
2. Labour market testing, unless exempt (next section).
3. Salary set at or above both the annual market salary rate and the CSIT.
4. Nomination (A$330) plus the Skilling Australians Fund levy, paid in full at lodgement: A$1,200 a year of the nomination under A$10 million turnover, A$1,800 at or above.
5. Visa application by the chef: A$4,015 for the main applicant.

Sponsorship, nomination and SAF costs are yours by law and cannot be passed to the worker. The visa charge can be paid by either side. It is illegal to take any payment or benefit from a worker in return for sponsorship.

Labour market testing and the Japan exemptions

For most nominations: at least two ads, in Australia and in English, each accepting applications for at least four weeks, within the four months before you lodge the nomination. Ads may overlap. Each must show the job title, the skills or experience needed, your business name (or your recruiter's), and the salary or a salary range if pay is under A$96,400. Valid places are a national recruitment website, an industry site in significant use, LinkedIn's recruitment platform (not member only posts), national print or national radio, or your own site if you are an accredited sponsor. General classifieds and social media posts do not count.

Home Affairs lists these international trade exemptions that can apply to Japan:

• The chef is a current employee of an associated entity of your business located in Japan. For a Japanese group moving its own cook, this is the clearest case.
• The chef is a Japanese citizen applying in one of the "LMT exempt categories" under the trade agreements. Home Affairs does not list those categories on its page, and we could not confirm that a chef hired from an unrelated restaurant falls in one. Unless a registered migration agent confirms it, advertise.

An intra-corporate transfer and a "top-talent chef" can use a written submission instead of ads, explaining the transfer or why this person is one of very few who could fill the role.

Setting the salary

The salary must be at least the annual market salary rate (what an Australian at your workplace earns or would earn for the same work) and at least the CSIT, excluding non-monetary benefits such as housing or a car. For nominations lodged from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 the CSIT is A$79,423.

No official figure exists for what Japanese chefs earn in Australia. Use this ladder:

• Restaurant Industry Award from 1 July 2026: Cook grade 3 A$1,119.10 a week (about A$58,190 a year); Cook grade 5 A$1,221.10 (about A$63,500).
• CSIT A$79,423: the floor for any sponsored chef, about A$15,900 above award grade 5.
• Your own equivalent Australian employee: if one earns more than the CSIT for the same work, their rate is your floor.

In practice the CSIT is almost always the binding number. Offer at least the CSIT, and more if a local ad sample for your city shows higher pay for the role.

First year cost for one chef

Four year nomination, no dependants, turnover under A$10 million, employer paying the visa charge, as of September 2026:

At A$10 million turnover or more, the SAF levy is A$7,200 and charges total A$11,965. A partner adds A$4,015 and each child under 18 A$1,005. Not included, because amounts vary and we have not verified them: English test, medicals, police certificate, translations, a migration agent, flights and first housing. Agent and recruitment costs tied to sponsorship are yours by law. For a reusable template, see budgeting an international chef hire.

Sponsor, working holiday or local hire

The gap between a sponsored chef and a local grade 5 cook is about A$27,400 in year one. Pay it for the head chef or sushi lead you cannot find locally. For line roles, a working holiday maker or a local hire is usually the better answer.

Backward schedule from the start date

If the decision takes longer than the gap you left, the start date moves. Lodge the nomination while the four weeks of advertising still fall inside the previous four months.

Obligations after arrival

• Keep the chef's terms at least equal to an Australian doing the same work, for the whole visa.
• Tell Home Affairs within 28 days if the employment ends or is expected to end, or if the duties change.
• If the chef or a sponsored family member asks in writing, pay reasonable and necessary travel costs to leave Australia within 30 days.
• Keep records, including evidence that you did not discriminate on citizenship or visa status in recruitment.
• If the job ends, the chef has up to 180 days to find a new sponsor or leave.

For city pay and competition, see Sydney and Melbourne.

General information checked against official sources on 27 September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Australian thresholds and charges change every 1 July, and exemptions depend on individual facts. Confirm with Home Affairs or a registered migration agent before acting.