Sweden Work Permit Salary Requirement for a Chef, 2026

Sweden has no chef visa and no shortage list that helps cooks: since 1 June 2026 a new work permit needs a cash salary of at least 90 percent of the national median, which Migrationsverket puts at SEK 34,470 a month from 16 June 2026. That floor already sits well above what a Swedish kitchen typically pays under the Svensk Handel-HRF collective agreement, where an experienced cook (3+ years) earns about SEK 28,611 a month from 1 May 2026. Add employer social contributions of 31.42 percent on top of gross pay, and a chef hire from Japan costs meaningfully more than the local market rate, not less.

1. What changed on 1 June 2026

Before June 2026, the main pay test was that salary had to support the worker, measured at 80 percent of the median. The new rule replaces that with a straight requirement of 90 percent of the median salary Statistics Sweden (SCB) publishes at the time of application. As of 16 June 2026, SCB's median is SEK 38,300, so the requirement is SEK 34,470 a month. Pay must also still be on par with Swedish collective agreements or normal practice in the trade; if the agreement for your kitchen sets a higher rate, that higher rate applies, though as the next section shows, the permit floor is already well above the collective agreement rate for a cook.

The government can exempt occupations from the salary requirement, applying 75 percent of the median instead; the current exempt list covers groups such as assistant nurses, welders and forestry workers. Cooks and chefs are not on it, so your restaurant has to meet the full 90 percent.

2. The permit floor versus what Swedish kitchens pay

The number that decides whether you can hire is not a market rate; it is a legal floor set well above what the sector's own collective agreement pays. The Svensk Handel-HRF agreement for restaurant and café staff sets a monthly minimum for a qualified cook (kitchen worker with at least 3 years' experience) at SEK 28,611 from 1 May 2026 (rising to SEK 28,932 for 6 or more years' experience). The work permit salary requirement of SEK 34,470 sits roughly 20 percent above that collective agreement floor.

Two things follow. First, a permit hire from Japan is not a way to staff a kitchen cheaply; you are legally required to pay above the domestic market rate, and a chef who can run a counter typically commands more again on top of the permit floor, not less. Second, when your contract lists supplements for evening or weekend hours, they count toward the SEK 34,470 only if they are recurring and stated in the contract; benefits such as free food or accommodation never count, and two part-time jobs cannot be combined to reach the figure.

3. What the employer has to do

In Sweden the employer starts the application in Migrationsverket's e-service, then the chef completes their part. Before that, you need to have done the following:

1. Advertise the job for at least 10 days so anyone in Sweden, the EU/EEA and Switzerland can apply, normally via the Swedish Public Employment Service's portal, which also appears on EURES. An ad only on LinkedIn or similar channels is usually not enough. Keep the ad ID.
2. Sign the contract after the advertising period ends, with both signatures. Migrationsverket suggests a start date running from the day the permit is granted, to absorb any delay in processing.
3. Arrange four insurances from the start of employment: health (sickness), life, occupational injury and occupational pension.
4. Let the relevant trade union comment on the terms; you choose the union in the e-service, and Migrationsverket judges the terms itself if the union does not respond.
5. Collect the details you will enter: the chef's name, date of birth, citizenship, education and email; your organisation number; the SSYK occupation code; salary, hours and insurers.

Our guide to writing a job ad for chefs helps you write one advert that satisfies the Swedish requirement and reaches Japanese candidates at the same time.

4. Extra checks for restaurants

Migrationsverket applies higher investigation requirements to hotels and restaurants (SNI codes starting 55101 and 56). A restaurant must show how it will guarantee the chef's pay and that it can pay the salary for at least three months, attaching cash and cash-equivalent documents, balance sheet and income statements for the previous and current year, and, if you have employed permit holders before, the tax account statement for the last three months. A business less than a year old counts as a start-up and must prove the same three months. Applications in this category take longer than those for highly qualified workers, so leave time.

5. Permit length, extensions and family

• Length: up to two years per permit, never longer than the employment or the passport.
• Health insurance: for a job of one year or less, the chef must also have, or have applied for, comprehensive health insurance covering care, hospitalisation, emergency dental care and medical repatriation.
• Family: a spouse, partner or children under 21 can apply at the same time, subject to a maintenance requirement; new rules for accompanying family apply from 1 October 2026, so check the current version before filing.
• No work before the permit is granted.

6. Cost and schedule

7. Copy-paste offer summary for your candidate

English gloss: restaurant name and city, role (Kock/cook or Köksmästare/head chef), permit route (the general work permit, salary test at 90% of the median), gross monthly cash salary above the current SEK 34,470 floor, any recurring evening or weekend supplements written into the contract, contract length and probation, target start date (recommended to run from the grant date), the four insurances, and housing kept as a separate line since it never counts toward the salary figure.

8. A Stockholm hiring checklist

1. Confirm the current SCB median and set the offer above the resulting 90% floor, and above the HRF collective agreement rate.
2. Prepare three months of salary evidence, financial statements and, if relevant, tax account statements.
3. Advertise for at least 10 days on the Public Employment Service portal, keeping the ad ID.
4. Sign the contract after the ad closes, with any recurring supplements written down.
5. Arrange the four insurances and select the union for consultation.
6. Send the candidate the offer summary above, then start the application in the e-service.
7. Diarise the permit end date; extensions can be filed no more than two months before expiry.

Japan's foreign ministry counted 4,911 Japanese nationals in Sweden as of 1 October 2025, of whom 3,659 held permanent residence; anyone with Swedish permanent residence, or a residence permit to live with a partner in Sweden, can already work without a permit, so include that group in a local search before assuming every hire needs the full process above. A working holiday cook, under the programme running since 2020 with no published annual cap, can also be a short-term option; check current conditions with Migrationsverket before rostering someone full time.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. The Swedish salary requirement follows SCB's median and changes each June; confirm current figures with Migrationsverket before applying.