Hiring a Japanese Chef in Guam or Saipan: Visas That Fit

For a permanent head chef on Guam or Saipan, the realistic routes are the same as anywhere else in the US: E-2 if the restaurant is at least half owned by Japanese nationals, or EB-3 through PERM if it is not. H-2B on Guam and the CNMI's CW-1 visa both look attractive because they sit outside the usual caps, but both require a genuinely temporary need or an ending program, not a permanent sushi chef. Local pay data is thin, so build the offer from a mainland or Hawaii benchmark plus housing, flights and meals, not the territory's own low median.

1. For a permanent chef, start here

Both territory routes below look like an easy answer because they sit outside the national H-2B cap. Neither is built for a permanent head chef: H-2B needs a genuine seasonal, peakload, one-time or intermittent need, and CW-1 is winding down to 31 December 2029. If the role is permanent, your real options are E-2 (restaurant at least half owned by Japanese nationals) or EB-3 through PERM; read sections 4 and 5 only for a genuinely temporary or bridging need. See E-2 visas for Japanese restaurant staff and US visa options for hiring a chef from Japan; this page does not repeat their detail.

2. Two territories, two rulebooks

Guam and the CNMI are separate jurisdictions with different minimum wages and different visa programs. A restaurant group with outlets in both must handle each on its own terms; a worker admitted on a CNMI-only visa cannot simply transfer to a Guam outlet.

3. Minimum wage, and a pay benchmark

BLS wage data for May 2025 (via O*NET) covers restaurant cooks on Guam but publishes no figure for chefs and head cooks on Guam, and none at all for the CNMI:

The median Guam cook earns $11.03 an hour, with no official chef figure at all. A candidate is not comparing your offer with the Guam median; they are comparing it with what they earn in Japan or could earn on the mainland. Our method: benchmark against a market with comparable customer base and island logistics, not the local median. Hawaii's statewide chef median is $77,360 (BLS, May 2025), and Hawaii shares Guam and Saipan's dependence on Japanese visitors and island shipping costs. Start an experienced-chef offer near that figure, then add housing, flights and meals, since the gap to the Guam cook median is the whole problem you are solving. See relocation packages for chefs.

4. Guam: H-2B outside the national cap

Under 48 U.S.C. 1806(b), during the CNMI transition program (running to 31 December 2029), a worker may be admitted to Guam or the CNMI on an H visa without counting against the national H-2B cap. Three things still apply: the need must be genuinely temporary (the statute does not relax this for restaurants, so a permanent sushi chef post does not qualify); labor certification comes from the Governor of Guam, not the US Secretary of Labor (8 CFR 214.2(h)(6)(iii)); and H-2B is generally limited to nationals of countries on a DHS list. Japan was on the list published 8 November 2024, effective to 8 November 2025; we could not confirm a later designation, and a Federal Register search under the same notice title turns up no newer entry. Confirm the current list before planning a season around it. General H-2B mechanics, the cost model and the filing calendar are in H-2B visas for restaurant cooks, not repeated here.

5. Saipan and the CNMI: CW-1 today, and its 2029 end

The CNMI-Only Transitional Worker visa (CW-1, 48 U.S.C. 1806 and 8 CFR 214.2(w)) is ending: the transition runs to 31 December 2029, with falling annual limits (8,000 for fiscal year 2026, 7,000 for 2027, 6,000 for 2028, 5,000 for 2029, 1,000 for the first quarter of 2030); unused numbers do not carry over. The employer must get a temporary labor certification from DOL first (Form ETA-9142C with a prevailing wage on ETA-9141C), pay at least the highest of the CNMI minimum wage, the federal minimum and the prevailing wage, and stay in good standing with E-Verify and wage, safety and employment law for the prior five years. An approved petition runs up to one year, or three for a "long-term worker."

What to do now, not in 2029. If you already employ CW-1 workers, do not wait for the cap to bind. Review each worker against E-2 (if Japanese-owned) and EB-3 well before the limits tighten, since options narrow every year and disappear after early 2030. Keep building a local team alongside any CW-1 workers, and get advice early, since CW-1's short petitions mean this decision recurs annually.

6. The Japanese market on Guam and Saipan

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs counted 2,697 Japanese nationals on Guam (down 0.8%) and 493 in the CNMI (unchanged) as of 1 October 2025. The resident community is small, so the market depends heavily on visitors. We tried to confirm current visitor arrival figures from the Guam Visitors Bureau, the official source, but its site was unavailable when checked in September 2026, so we give no arrival numbers here. Get current monthly arrivals by market from the Visitors Bureau (Guam) or the Marianas Visitors Authority (CNMI) before sizing a kitchen team; visitor mix changes quickly and we could not verify it.

7. A hiring checklist

1. Decide first whether the role is genuinely permanent or temporary; that decides whether you are reading sections 4 and 5 or section 1.
2. For a permanent chef, check E-2 ownership eligibility, then EB-3.
3. Pay at least $9.25 on Guam (no tip credit) and $7.25 in the CNMI, then build the real offer from the Hawaii benchmark plus housing, flights and meals.
4. On Guam, use H-2B only for a genuine temporary need and confirm Japan's current country eligibility yourself.
5. If you hold CW-1 workers, start their status review now, not as the 2029 cap tightens.
6. Get current Guam or CNMI visitor arrival data before sizing the team.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Territory wage and visa programs change on their own schedules, and the CNMI transition period is due to end in 2029. Confirm current rules with USCIS, DOL, the Guam Department of Labor or an immigration attorney before acting.