Portugal Work Visa for a Japanese Chef: AIMA and Pay, 2026

For a permanent kitchen hire, the residency visa for subordinate work is the route: a work contract or promise gets the chef a two-entry visa valid four months, during which they must get a residence permit appointment with AIMA. Pay must meet Portugal's 2026 minimum wage of EUR 920 a month plus any collective agreement that covers your restaurant; we could not confirm a current published wage grade for cooks or head chefs this check, so price above the minimum and confirm the collective agreement directly. AIMA's own appointment wait is the step most likely to go wrong, and what happens if it runs past the visa's four months is not something we could confirm either; treat that gap as a real risk, not a formality, and get local advice before the clock runs out.

1. The visa routes that matter for a restaurant

2. The residency visa for subordinate work

The consulate's document list for this visa is short: a work contract, work promise or demonstration of interest from the employer, and a professional certificate only if the profession is regulated in Portugal (cooking is not). Proof of means of subsistence can rest on the income from the contract or promise, with the employer able to support it through a signed term of responsibility. No labour market test is listed as a requirement.

On top of the work documents, the chef files the general national visa application: the completed form, two photos, a passport valid three months beyond the planned return, travel insurance covering medical costs and repatriation, and an apostilled or legalised criminal record certificate from Japan and any country lived in for over a year. The processing fee is EUR 110; the legal deadline for a decision is 60 days (30 for a temporary stay visa).

3. After arrival: the AIMA residence permit, and its real risk

The residency visa is the entry ticket, not the finish line. It allows two entries and is valid four months, and within that window the chef must get a residence permit appointment with AIMA, the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum. AIMA does not publish a wait-time figure we could locate this check, and we could not confirm what legal status the chef holds if an appointment falls after the visa's four months run out, a scenario Portuguese immigration has had real backlogs with in recent years.

Treat this as the section of the whole process that decides whether the hire actually works, not a formality after the "real" visa step. Have the chef request the AIMA appointment as early as the visa allows, keep every document (contract, payslips, proof of address) ready before the appointment exists, and get a Portuguese immigration lawyer's view on your specific timeline if the four months look tight. Our onboarding guide has a first-month checklist you can adapt around this step.

4. What to pay: the minimum wage and what we could not confirm

Portugal's national minimum wage for 2026 is EUR 920 a month, up from EUR 870 in 2025 and EUR 820 in 2024. A hospitality collective agreement (published through the Boletim do Trabalho e Emprego) sets grade-based pay above this floor for cozinheiro (cook) and chefe de cozinha (head chef) roles; we could not access the current published wage grades this check, so we are not repeating a figure we have not confirmed. Employer social security contributions run at the standard general-scheme rate of 23.75% of gross pay on top of salary.

Method, in the absence of a confirmed grade table: start from the EUR 920 floor only for a role you intend to train from junior level; for an experienced sushi chef or a head chef, price well above it, in line with what the role would cost you to leave unfilled, and confirm the actual current collective agreement grade with a Portuguese payroll adviser or through the BTE before you finalise the offer.

5. Offer letter template

6. Cost total and backward schedule

7. Hiring for a Lisbon kitchen

Japan's foreign ministry counted 1,017 Japanese nationals in Portugal as of 1 October 2025, up 5.6 percent, with 618 long-term and 399 permanent residents; no separate Lisbon figure is published, and MAFF's country breakdown does not list Portugal separately either, so we cannot size the Japanese restaurant scene from official figures. That is too small a resident community to staff a kitchen from local hiring alone.

Portugal and Japan's youth mobility memorandum, in force since 1 July 2015, covers ages 18 to 30 on a stay of up to 12 months with no extension, work allowed on a secondary basis; Japan's foreign ministry lists no annual cap. See our European working holiday guide for what that actually permits. For a permanent chef, the shorter document list for the residency visa is a genuine advantage over some neighbours; read our relocation package guide before making an offer, and compare with Spain.

General information checked against official Portuguese and Japanese government sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Portuguese immigration rules and AIMA's processing capacity have changed several times in recent years and several details, including collective agreement pay grades and AIMA appointment waits, could not be confirmed this check. Confirm current requirements with the Portuguese consulate, AIMA and a local immigration lawyer before applying.