Hire a Japanese Chef in the Netherlands: GVVA vs Kennismigrant

Since 1 July 2024 a Japanese cook is assessed exactly like any other non-EU worker: a documented three-month EU search before you can apply for the combined residence and work permit (GVVA), or a highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) route if the salary clears a high threshold. A working holiday cook can help, but only with occasional work, not a full-time station. The GVVA route costs less upfront; the kennismigrant route needs a recognised sponsor and rarely pencils out for a single independent restaurant. This page names the CAO wage grades and gives both totals so you can pick with real numbers.

1. Which route fits

Japan's agriculture ministry found the number of Japanese restaurants in the Netherlands rose by about 370 between 2023 and 2025. More restaurants competing for the same cooks, on a tighter route than before 2024, is the backdrop for everything below.

2. The standard route: GVVA and the UWV conditions

Since 1 July 2024, the Dutch employee insurance agency UWV assesses an Asian-restaurant cook application "in the same way as the application for a work permit for a regular job" (our translation): the earlier sector arrangement for Asian hospitality no longer applies, and a sushi restaurant is treated the same as any other employer.

For a stay of more than three months, the employer applies for a combined residence and work permit (GVVA) through IND, with UWV handling the work-permit half. The conditions:

1. Report the vacancy to UWV at least five weeks before applying.
2. Search at least three months for a suitable candidate in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, using different media, with documents proving it.
3. Pay a salary appropriate to the position, transferred monthly to the worker's bank account.
4. Arrange safe and clean housing, and be ready to describe it to UWV.
5. A clean record: no labour-law fines in the five years before the application.

The permit runs up to two years. The IND fee for a single permit application is €423 in 2026.

3. Building the UWV evidence pack

The three-month search is the real cost, and UWV does not publish an exact checklist of what counts as sufficient, so build a file rather than a folder of guesses:

• Advert text: a specific skills specification (washoku or sushi technique, years of training, Japanese-language supplier communication where relevant), which does double duty: it screens applicants and shows UWV why a general EU cook is not a like-for-like match.
• Platforms: at least two, in Dutch and English, one of them a channel that reasonably reaches EU/EEA candidates, not only a Japan-facing board.
• Dates: the full three months, continuous, with the posting dates screenshotted.
• Applicant log: every applicant, the date, and the specific reason they were or were not suitable, not a generic "not qualified".
• Housing description: what you will provide or arrange, ready to state to UWV in the application itself.

Our sushi chef job description is a useful starting point for the specification.

4. Highly skilled migrant: when it actually pencils out

The kennismigrant scheme needs no separate work permit and no labour market test, but only an IND-recognised sponsor can apply, and pay must meet the income requirement:

€5,942 is roughly 2.3 times a 40-hour week at the July 2026 minimum wage, not impossible for an executive chef at a high-end restaurant, and the under-30 threshold is €1,585 a month lower, which can put a talented younger sushi chef within reach where an older one is not. For the EU Blue Card variant of this income table, see our EU Blue Card guide rather than this page.

5. GVVA vs kennismigrant: the real cost comparison

The two routes' one-off costs are not close for a single independent restaurant:

For one hire, the GVVA route is far cheaper up front; the kennismigrant route only pays for itself if you expect to sponsor more than one highly skilled hire, or if the three-month search is the harder constraint for your specific role and location. A single restaurant hiring one head chef should default to the GVVA route unless the salary you already intend to pay clears the kennismigrant threshold comfortably.

6. Horeca CAO pay by grade

The Dutch statutory minimum wage for workers 21 and over is €14.71 an hour from 1 January 2026 and €14.99 from 1 July 2026, which is also the base rate the Horeca CAO uses for its lowest grades. For a cook, the CAO's wage table effective 1 July 2026 puts the relevant grades at:

UWV requires "a salary appropriate to the position", which in practice means at or above the CAO grade for the role, not the bare statutory minimum. Use functiegroep VI as your reference point for a cook who runs their own station without supervision. For how Dutch pay compares internationally, see our salary guide by country.

7. Working holiday: occasional work only

The Netherlands and Japan have run a working holiday programme since 2020, with up to 200 Japanese participants a year, aged 18 to 30, for up to one year. The IND is explicit that "other work is not permitted" beyond occasional work meant to fund the stay; working full time for one employer all year is given as an example of what the scheme does not allow. Treat a working holiday cook as a way to meet candidates and cover shifts around a stable core team, not as your only sushi chef for the year. See our working holiday guide for Europe for how this compares with other countries' rules.

8. Step by step

1. Decide the route: GVVA (regular job), kennismigrant (if the salary clears the threshold and you can secure or already hold sponsor recognition), or a working holiday as a bridge.
2. For GVVA: report the vacancy to UWV and start the documented three-month EU search on at least two channels.
3. Line up housing that meets the "safe and clean" standard, and be ready to describe it.
4. Set pay against the Horeca CAO grade for the role, not the statutory minimum.
5. Submit the IND application at least five weeks after reporting the vacancy.
6. On arrival, register the cook with the municipality. See onboarding a chef from Japan.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Dutch thresholds change every January and July; confirm on the IND and UWV pages before acting.