Hiring a Japanese Chef in Brunei: Foreign Worker Licence Guide

Brunei has one of the smallest Japanese food scenes in Southeast Asia, and a hiring process with more steps than its size suggests. A foreign chef needs a work pass and a visa, and neither can be applied for until the employer holds a Foreign Worker Licence (Lesen Pekerja Asing, or LPA) from the Department of Labour. Before the licence, the job has to be offered to locals. This guide follows that sequence using the government's own pages.

1. A very small market

• MAFF counted about 60 Japanese restaurants in Brunei in 2025, up 20 on 2023 (figures rounded to the nearest ten).
• MOFA recorded 117 Japanese nationals in Brunei on 1 October 2025, down 8.6%. Of those, 107 were long-term stayers and 10 permanent residents.

There is, in practice, no local pool of Japanese cooks. A restaurant that wants a Japanese trained chef will recruit from Japan or from Japanese kitchens in nearby markets such as Malaysia or Singapore, and will go through the full licence process.

2. The sequence: JobCentre, licence, visa, work pass

Brunei's business portal (BusinessBN) sets out the steps for employing foreign workers.

1. Advertise locally first. Vacancies must be advertised at JobCentre Brunei for at least 2 weeks before you apply for the LPA. The portal describes this as giving priority to local recruitment, and allows up to 30 further days for that review.
2. Apply for the Foreign Worker Licence. Applications are submitted through a registered employment agent. The portal gives an approval time of 7 working days (18 for construction).
3. Pay the security deposit. When you collect the licence, you pay a security deposit in cash, by banker's guarantee, or through foreign worker insurance/takaful cover (JITPA).
4. Visa and work pass. The Immigration Department's work pass section requires the LPA (form BUR 500), original and copy, with every application, a passport valid for at least 6 months, and a medical examination (blood test and X-ray). The employment agency submits the visa and work pass application. Once approved, the visa authorisation is sent to a Brunei mission abroad, where the chef appears in person with travel documents and health reports to have the visa endorsed.

The Immigration Department is blunt about the end state: foreign nationals working in Brunei must hold a valid visa and a valid work pass (pas kerja).

3. Why you will need a registered employment agent

Because the portal routes LPA applications through a registered employment agent, and the Immigration Department describes the agency as the party that submits the visa and work pass application, most restaurants will not file these themselves. Choose the agent before you advertise, and ask them in writing:

• their fee and what it covers (LPA, visa, work pass, renewals);
• the security deposit amount for your case and which form of deposit they recommend;
• any levy or other government charge per foreign worker, and how often it is paid;
• how long the licence and pass will be valid, and when renewal must start.

Agents handle this every week; the answers should be quick. Get them in writing so you can compare two agents and budget correctly.

4. A realistic timeline

Adding up the stages the portal publishes:

That is roughly two to three months from the first advertisement, before counting the time a chef in Japan needs to give notice, and before any back and forth over documents. Build the opening date or the chef change around that, not around the best case.

Use the waiting time well: have the chef's employment certificates, qualifications and passport copy ready, and settle housing and the contract. Our guides to relocation packages and onboarding a chef from Japan cover both.

5. What is not published

We could not find on official pages, as of September 2026:

• the amount of the security deposit;
• any foreign worker levy amounts;
• a minimum salary for foreign workers in restaurants;
• the validity period of the LPA and the work pass.

The Department of Labour's Foreign Workers Licence page describes the service but not these details, and a briefing document on its site could not be retrieved when we checked. Your registered agent and the Department of Labour are the people to ask. We will not fill the gap with figures from unofficial sources.

Most restaurants in Brunei serve a largely Muslim customer base. If your concept needs halal handling, plan it into the chef's role from the start; see staffing a halal Japanese kitchen. For neighbouring markets with published thresholds, see Malaysia and Singapore.

6. Step by step

1. Appoint a registered employment agent and get their fees, deposit and levy information in writing.
2. Advertise the vacancy at JobCentre Brunei for at least 2 weeks.
3. Consider local applicants in good faith and keep records.
4. Apply for the Foreign Worker Licence through the agent; pay the security deposit on collection.
5. The chef completes the medical examination; the agent lodges the visa and work pass application with the LPA.
6. The chef attends the Brunei mission abroad for visa endorsement, then travels.
7. Diarise renewal dates as soon as the pass is issued.

General information gathered from official Brunei government pages in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Deposit, levy, salary and validity details were not published on the pages we could access; confirm them with the Department of Labour, the Immigration and National Registration Department or your registered agent.