Hire a Japanese Chef in Dubai: MOHRE Permits, Costs and Rules

Dubai has one of the simpler hiring systems in the world for a restaurant that wants a chef from Japan. There is no points test, no labour market test of the kind Canada runs, and the permit is tied to the employer rather than to a shortage list. The friction is elsewhere: in the licence your company holds, the job title you choose, and the Emiratisation rules that apply once your headcount grows. This guide covers each of those, using the UAE government's own pages.

1. The UAE market in numbers

• Japan's agriculture ministry (MAFF) counted about 1,600 Japanese restaurants across the Middle East in its 2025 survey, up roughly 20% from about 1,300 in 2023. MAFF links the regional growth to interest in healthy eating.
• For the UAE itself, MAFF's country table shows 190 restaurants, up 20 on 2023. MAFF only counts places identified through local listings, restaurant associations, Japanese community bodies or Japan's diplomatic missions, and rounds to the nearest ten. Read it as a floor, not a census.
• Japan's foreign ministry (MOFA) recorded 5,300 Japanese nationals in the UAE on 1 October 2025, up 11.0% in a year. Dubai alone had an estimated 3,433, up 13.2%.
• Of the 5,300, only 232 are permanent residents. The other 5,068 are long-term stayers, which in practice means people whose residence is tied to a job or a family sponsor.

That last figure shapes your search. In markets like the US or Brazil there is a settled Japanese community you can recruit from. In the UAE almost every Japanese cook already in the country is attached to an employer, so moving them means a transfer of work permit, and most senior hires will come from abroad.

2. The route: offer, contract, permit, visa

The UAE government portal describes the employment process for expatriates in four stages: a formal job offer, signing the employment contract, the work permit, and then the work visa. The work permit is issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE). The residence visa is handled by the immigration authority for the emirate, which for Dubai is GDRFA Dubai, with ICP handling residency elsewhere.

MOHRE issues 13 types of work permit. The one you need is the work permit to recruit a worker from outside the UAE, valid for two years. Its published conditions are short:

• The worker must be at least 18.
• The occupation must be aligned with the business activity on your trade licence.
• Your licence must be valid and free of violations.
• The application must come from an authorised company representative.

The second condition catches new operators. If your licence was drafted for a café or a trading activity and you now want to hire a sushi chef, check that the licensed activity covers restaurant operation before you make an offer.

The standard employment visa that follows is valid for two years and renewable. Other permit types are worth knowing about. A transfer permit covers moving a worker who is already in the UAE from another establishment, which is how you would hire a Japanese chef currently working in another Dubai kitchen. A temporary work permit and a mission work permit cover limited periods, which can suit a guest chef for an opening.

3. Skill levels and why the job title matters

MOHRE classifies occupations into nine professional levels, from Level 1 (legislators, managers and business executives) down to Level 9 (simple professions). Your applicant's level depends on the occupation you register and on MOHRE's conditions for what counts as skilled work.

We could not retrieve the full list of those skilled work conditions from the official portal at the time of writing, so we will not paraphrase them here. What matters for a restaurant is the consequence: the level follows the job title and the documents you submit, and the Emiratisation targets described below are measured against skilled jobs. Decide deliberately whether the role is "head chef", "chef" or "cook", make sure it matches what the person will actually do, and check how MOHRE will classify it before you file.

4. What the employer pays

According to the UAE government portal, the cost of issuing and renewing a work permit ranges from AED 250 to AED 3,450, depending on whether MOHRE classifies your company in category A, B or C. The employer bears these fees.

The Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) is explicit on the rest:

• Article 6(4): the employer may not charge the worker the fees and costs of recruitment and employment, directly or indirectly.
• Article 13(12): the employer bears the cost of returning the worker to the place of recruitment, unless the worker has joined another employer or the contract ended because of the worker.
• Article 9(1): probation may not exceed six months, and the employer must give at least 14 days' written notice to end employment during probation.

The permit fee is only part of the cost. Flights, initial accommodation, and the residence visa and Emirates ID fees charged by the immigration authority all need a line in the budget. Those fees vary by emirate and change; check the current figures with GDRFA Dubai or your typing centre rather than relying on an old quote. For a fuller breakdown of what to include, see our guide to relocation packages for chefs.

5. Emiratisation: does it touch your restaurant?

The short answer: it can, depending on size and activity. The official rules have two tiers.

The 14 activities for the smaller tier include hospitality services, alongside sectors such as real estate, education, construction and retail. A restaurant group with 20 to 49 employees therefore needs to check how its licence activity is classified. MOHRE describes the obligation for this tier as recruiting at least one UAE national and retaining those already employed. The portal did not publish targets for 2026 onwards for the smaller tier at the time of writing, so confirm the current position with MOHRE.

Emiratisation does not stop you hiring a Japanese chef. It changes the arithmetic of your whole team. If you are near the 20 or 50 employee line, plan the Emirati hires alongside the kitchen hires, not after.

6. Writing the offer

The UAE portal notes that once the contract is executed, the employer may not alter or replace provisions of the offer letter without the employee's consent. Treat the offer letter as the contract in draft. Things that belong in it for a chef coming from Japan:

• Basic salary and each allowance listed separately (housing, transport, food), so the candidate can compare your offer with others on a like-for-like basis.
• Accommodation: provided, shared or allowance, and for how long.
• Working hours, weekly days off and how Ramadan hours are handled.
• Annual flight home and annual leave.
• Probation length (six months at most) and notice.
• Who pays each visa and permit fee, which by law is the employer.

Our chef employment contract checklist covers the clauses in more detail. If you are also considering Qatar or Saudi Arabia for a second site, the rules differ more than people expect: see hiring in Qatar and hiring in Saudi Arabia.

7. Step by step

1. Confirm the trade licence activity and your MOHRE company category.
2. Check your headcount against the Emiratisation tiers.
3. Decide the job title and check how MOHRE will classify it.
4. Search. Look for Japanese chefs already in the UAE (transfer permit) as well as in Japan and third countries.
5. Interview with a practical test. Our guide to remote skills tests covers how to do this before anyone flies.
6. Issue the offer letter, then the contract.
7. Apply for the work permit through MOHRE, then the entry permit and residence visa through GDRFA Dubai.
8. Plan arrival: accommodation, medical, Emirates ID, bank account and the first week in the kitchen.

General information gathered from official UAE and Japanese government sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Fees, Emiratisation targets and permit conditions change; check the linked pages or with MOHRE and GDRFA Dubai before acting.