Chile Work Visa for a Chef: Notary, Consulate and SERMIG Order

A chef must apply for Chile's Residencia Temporal from outside the country: the employer signs the employment contract before a Chilean notary, the chef signs it at the Chilean consulate, and only then does the online SERMIG application go in from abroad, typically taking up to two years once granted. The Labour Code's rule that 85% of staff be Chilean exempts any employer with 25 workers or fewer, which covers most single restaurants, so treat it as a one-line check rather than the main event. We could not verify SERMIG's current fee or processing time from an official page in September 2026.

1. Chile in numbers

• MAFF counted about 500 Japanese restaurants in Chile in 2025, around 30 fewer than in 2023. Latin America as a whole grew about 20% over the same period, so Chile went against the regional trend; most of the regional growth came from Brazil. See our Latin America data guide.
• MOFA recorded 1,630 Japanese nationals in Chile on 1 October 2025: 943 long-term stayers and 687 permanent residents.

Look at the 687 permanent residents before you look abroad: they can join a kitchen without any new permit, unlike the long-term stayers, who are mostly on assignment and come and go. Advertise in Spanish and Japanese locally first.

2. The sequencing problem: notary, consulate, SERMIG

The part that actually catches employers out is not the 85% rule, it is the order of signatures. Chile's Migration and Foreigners Law (Law 21,325) replaced the old contract visa with the Residencia Temporal permit, and for paid work the National Migration Service (SERMIG) requires:

The contract route is simpler for most restaurants: one application, up to two years, no 45-day deadline after arrival. We could not verify SERMIG's current application fee or a stated processing time from an official page in September 2026; ask SERMIG directly and build the answer into your schedule before you promise the chef a start date. Documents issued abroad need an apostille or legalisation; anything not in Spanish or English needs a certified translation. Private documents must be submitted within 30 days of issue and public documents within 60 days, so time the Japanese police certificate to land inside that window, not before it.

Once the chef starts, the employer still has to notarise and electronically register the contract (Labour Code Articles 9 and 9 bis). Losing the job, or changing employer voluntarily, is not by itself grounds to revoke a Residencia Temporal issued on a contract, and the holder can change employer without informing SERMIG; the exception is the 90-day permit granted on a job offer alone.

3. A Santiago pay range and monthly cost

We found no official Chilean wage survey for a Japanese or sushi head chef. Set the offer from what the chef earns in Japan (MHLW 2025: cooks average ¥286,600 a month in regular pay) plus a relocation uplift, checked against comparable Latin American markets on sushi chef salary by country, rather than a Chilean floor that does not exist for this role. That figure also makes SERMIG's "proof of liquidity to hire the applicant" concrete: the employer has to show it can actually pay what it is offering, on top of the tax folder (carpeta tributaria) or other solvency evidence.

4. The 85% rule, compressed

Labour Code Articles 19 and 20 require at least 85% of an employer's workers to be Chilean. The one-line test: 25 workers or fewer, exempt. Most single restaurants fall under this line. If you are close to it, three refinements matter: the count uses the employer's total Chilean workforce, not each branch separately, so a group with several restaurants under one company counts them together; specialist technical staff are excluded from the calculation, though whether a Japanese head chef qualifies depends on the Labour Directorate's criteria (it cites its Ordinance 6307/282), so do not assume it; and a foreign worker resident more than five years, or whose spouse, civil partner or children are Chilean, counts as Chilean. Run the count with your accountant if you are near the threshold; otherwise this rule is not the part of the hire that needs your attention.

5. Chile against Argentina and Colombia

For the same Japanese chef, the deciding difference between Chile, Argentina and Colombia is rarely pay, it is the sequencing rule in section 2: Chile requires the application filed from outside the country with the contract already signed at a consulate, which adds a fixed lead time before the chef can travel at all. If your chef is willing to relocate and your paperwork (notary, tax folder, solvency proof) is ready first, Chile's up-to-two-year permit on a signed contract is stable once granted. If speed matters more than a long permit term, compare the entry sequencing on our Argentina and Colombia guides before committing to Chile specifically; this page does not repeat their detail.

6. Working holiday: a second route

Japan and Chile started a working holiday arrangement in 2018. MOFA lists an annual quota of 200 places, as of 1 April 2026. It is not a substitute for a sponsored head chef, but it can fill a line cook or front of house role for a season, and sometimes leads to a longer hire. Check current conditions, including what work is allowed, with the Chilean consulate in Japan; our working holiday hiring guide covers the general approach.

7. Step by step

1. Search locally in Spanish and Japanese among Chile's permanent residents and Chilean cooks trained in Japanese cuisine first.
2. If sponsoring, run the 85% count only if you are near 25 workers.
3. Interview with a practical test. See remote skills tests.
4. Draft the employment contract under the Labour Code and sign it before a Chilean notary.
5. Gather the tax folder, proof of liquidity and signatory authority documents.
6. The chef gets documents apostilled, signs the contract at the Chilean consulate, and applies to SERMIG online from outside Chile.
7. After arrival, register the contract electronically and plan the first month; see our onboarding guide.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Requirements and document rules change; confirm the current position with SERMIG, the Dirección del Trabajo and the Chilean consulate before acting.