Hire a Japanese Chef in Ho Chi Minh City: Permits, Pay, Merger

Ho Chi Minh City has Vietnam's largest Japanese community, but it shrank 5% last year while the number of Japanese restaurants nationally kept rising. Since 1 July 2025 the city's administrative area also absorbed Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and since 1 March 2025 work permit filings run through the provincial Department of Home Affairs rather than the old labour department. File between 60 and 10 days before the chef starts; expect a thin local pool and plan to bring the chef in.

1. Ho Chi Minh City in numbers

• 9,249 Japanese nationals lived in Ho Chi Minh City on 1 October 2025, down 5.0% on the year, still the largest Japanese community in Vietnam (MOFA).
• Vietnam as a whole had 16,636 Japanese nationals, down 4.4%. Hanoi, the second city, grew 3.6% to 5,853.
• MAFF counted 1,820 Japanese restaurants in Vietnam in 2025, up 200 on 2023. No official split by city exists.

More restaurants, fewer Japanese residents: the national trend points to a customer base that is increasingly Vietnamese and a thin local pool of Japanese chefs in HCMC. Plan to recruit from Japan or elsewhere in the region rather than from the community already here.

2. A bigger city: the 2025 merger

On 1 July 2025 Vietnam cut its 63 provinces and cities to 34, abolishing the district level of government nationwide. Ho Chi Minh City absorbed the neighbouring provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, becoming a single administrative area that includes Binh Duong's manufacturing belt and Vung Tau's coast. Hanoi was not part of any merger.

Two things this means for a restaurant:

• A location that used to be "Binh Duong" or "Vung Tau" now falls administratively under Ho Chi Minh City, including for the People's Committee that grants work permits.
• We could not confirm whether MOFA's 9,249 figure for Ho Chi Minh City reflects the city's boundaries before or after the merger; treat it as approximate for a period while agencies update their own reporting.

If your restaurant is in what used to be Binh Duong or Ba Ria-Vung Tau, check with your local adviser which office now handles your paperwork; the answer may have changed even if your address has not.

3. Who processes the dossier now

Decree 219/2025/ND-CP (in force since 7 August 2025) still says provincial People's Committees grant, extend and revoke work permits (Article 4), and that where a chef works in more than one province, the People's Committee where the employer's headquarters sits is competent. What changed is which department within the provincial government does the work.

Since 1 March 2025, under Decree 25/2025/ND-CP, responsibility for processing foreign worker paperwork moved from the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) to the provincial Department of Home Affairs, submitted through the city's Public Administration Service Centre or online. Immigration law firms report the changeover caused delays of about a week at first, longer for anything filed directly with the ministry rather than through the provincial centre. Confirm the current submission channel before you prepare a dossier; this is exactly the kind of detail that changes between decrees.

4. Timing a start date

Article 22(1) of Decree 219 requires filing between 60 and 10 days before the chef is expected to start. For a 1 March start, the window opens around early January and closes 19 February. The authority must decide within 10 working days of a complete dossier (Article 22); file early in the window, not late, since the changeover to the Department of Home Affairs has added its own delay on top of the statutory one.

Most Japanese chefs qualify as a technical worker: at least 1 year of training plus 2 years of relevant experience, or at least 3 years of experience in the job (Article 3(4)). The evidence is documentary, so ask candidates at the first interview for dated employment letters and start translations early. A permit lasts no more than 2 years (Article 21) and can be extended once for up to 2 years (Article 29), with the extension request filed between 45 and 10 days before expiry. Once the permit is issued, the chef still needs the visa and temporary residence card; our Vietnam guide covers those steps and health insurance.

5. Pay: the Vietnamese floor and the chef's real cost

Ho Chi Minh City sits in Region 1 for minimum wage. From 1 January 2026, under Decree 293/2025/ND-CP, the Region 1 minimum is VND 5,310,000 a month or VND 25,500 an hour, up 7.2% (JETRO). This is a floor for the Vietnamese cooks and service staff who work alongside the chef, not for the chef, whose pay is set by the international market. See sushi chef salary by country for the official figures that exist elsewhere in the region.

We found no official wage survey for a Japanese chef's pay in Ho Chi Minh City, so there is no local figure to give beyond the Region 1 floor for the Vietnamese team. What is knowable is the shape of the package: housing near the restaurant, flights, and a contract that states the chef's role clearly enough to support the work permit application, are the items that decide whether the chef stays past the first permit. See relocation packages for chefs.

6. The four year horizon: a succession plan

One permit plus one extension is 4 years at most. That is the real planning horizon for a chef brought in under a technical worker permit, and it should shape the hire from day one rather than becoming a scramble in year three.

1. Hire the chef as a trainer from the start. The permit has to justify a foreign worker, and a chef who is visibly building a Vietnamese cook's skills is the easiest case to make, and the best insurance if the chef leaves early. See training local staff in Japanese cuisine.
2. Name a Vietnamese sous chef in year one and give them a defined station to own within 12 months, not a vague understudy role.
3. Decide the year 3 question early. By month 30 of the first permit, you need to know whether the sous chef can run the kitchen alone, whether you extend the current chef's permit, or whether you start recruiting a replacement from Japan; each path has its own lead time.
4. Treat retention as cheaper than replacement. See retaining Japanese chefs for what changes the odds in the first 90 days.

7. Checklist

1. Confirm which department currently receives your dossier: the provincial Department of Home Affairs, via the Public Administration Service Centre or the national portal.
2. If your address was in Binh Duong or Ba Ria-Vung Tau before July 2025, check whether that changes your filing authority.
3. Check the chef's paperwork: 3 years of documented experience, or 1 year of training plus 2 years of experience.
4. Fix the start date and file between 60 and 10 days before it, early in the window.
5. Set Vietnamese staff pay at or above VND 5,310,000 a month.
6. Diary the permit expiry, the 45 to 10 day extension window, and the month 30 succession decision.

Also in Vietnam: hiring a Japanese chef in Hanoi. In the region: Bangkok.

General information checked in September 2026 against the text of Decree 219/2025/ND-CP and Decree 25/2025/ND-CP, JETRO summaries, immigration law firm advisories and Japanese government statistics, not legal or immigration advice. Vietnamese practice varies by locality and is still settling after the 2025 administrative reorganisation. Confirm requirements with the Ho Chi Minh City authorities or a Vietnamese lawyer before applying.