Hire a Japanese Chef in Taiwan: Work Permit Rules for Chefs

In Taiwan the rules name restaurant chefs directly. Chef work in the food and beverage industry has been designated by the Ministry of Labor as specialised or technical work that foreign nationals can be hired for. That settles whether a Japanese chef can qualify. The harder questions are whether your restaurant is big enough to sponsor, and whether the chef can prove the experience the rules require. This guide goes through both, with the regulation text linked.

1. Taiwan in numbers

• MAFF counted 7,100 Japanese restaurants in Taiwan in 2025, the fifth highest of any country or region, down 340 on 2023. Across Asia the count fell about 10%, which MAFF attributes mainly to China.
• MOFA recorded 21,755 Japanese nationals in Taiwan on 1 October 2025. Of those, 7,318 are permanent residents, about a third. Taipei had an estimated 9,693.

The Japanese population grew 0.3% in the year, and restaurant numbers slipped. This is a large, established market, not a boom. A sponsored head chef can set a restaurant apart here, but only if the business can carry the cost and meet the employer tests below.

2. Yes, restaurant chefs are an eligible category

Taiwan's Employment Service Act lets employers hire foreign nationals for "specialised or technical work" (Article 46, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1). The detailed rules are in the Qualifications and Criteria Standards for Foreigners Undertaking the Jobs Specified under Article 46, Paragraph 1, Subparagraphs 1 to 6, last amended 1 August 2024.

Article 4 of those standards lists fields of specialised work and ends with a catch-all: other work designated by the central authority after consulting the relevant ministries (Article 4, item 15). Under that item, the Ministry of Labor's Workforce Development Agency lists 從事餐飲業之廚師工作, chef work in the food and beverage industry. The same list also designates culinary teaching at short-term cram schools and bartending.

Separately, Article 10 covers the tourism industry and includes culinary skills lacking in Taiwan for tourist hotels and hotels. That is a different route with its own employer conditions, relevant if you operate inside a hotel.

3. What the chef has to show

Article 5 of the standards requires the foreign worker to meet one of four conditions:

1. A certificate or practising qualification obtained under Taiwan's professional and technical examinations.
2. A master's degree in a relevant field, or a relevant bachelor's degree plus at least two years of relevant work experience.
3. At least one year with a multinational company and assignment to Taiwan by that company.
4. At least five years of relevant experience, through professional training or self-study, with creativity and outstanding performance (有創見及特殊表現).

For a chef who trained in kitchens rather than at university, the fourth route is the realistic one. Two parts of it need evidence: the five years, and the "creativity and outstanding performance". Collect proof early. Employment certificates from each restaurant, with dates and job titles, cover the first part. For the second, think about what shows distinction: senior positions held, awards, a restaurant's recognition, published menus, or MAFF's overseas Japanese cooking skill certification if the chef holds it (see our guide to the MAFF certification).

The third route suits restaurant groups. A chef who has worked at least a year for your company in Japan or elsewhere and is being assigned to the Taiwan branch can qualify without the five-year evidence.

Article 2-1 adds a clean-record test: in the three years before the application, the chef must not have worked in Taiwan without permission, worked for an unauthorised employer, gone missing from work for three consecutive days, or refused a health check, among other items.

4. What the restaurant has to show

Because chef work sits under Article 4, item 15, the employer conditions in Article 36 apply. For a Taiwanese company, one of these must be met:

A Taiwan branch of a foreign company has parallel tests based on operating funds in Taiwan and Taiwan turnover. There is also a discretionary route for businesses with a substantial contribution to the domestic economy or special circumstances, decided case by case.

NT$10 million of annual turnover is a real bar for an independent restaurant. A small omakase counter with a handful of seats may not reach it. If you are below it, consider whether the parent company or a group entity with enough turnover can be the employer, and take advice before structuring it.

5. The salary floor

Article 8 says the pay of a foreign worker doing specialised work may not be lower than the amount announced by the Ministry of Labor. The current announced figure is an average monthly salary of NT$47,971, set by a ministry announcement of 14 August 2017 and still shown on the Workforce Development Agency's page, last updated 13 May 2026.

That number has not moved since 2017, and a review has been reported. In December 2025 Taiwan's Economic Daily News reported that the ministry and the National Development Council were studying a higher threshold, with a figure around NT$63,000 under discussion. We found no official announcement of a change as of September 2026. If you are planning a hire for 2027, check the WDA page again before you set the offer.

6. Permit length, residence card and fees

• Permit length. Article 52 of the Employment Service Act allows a permit of up to three years for specialised work, which the employer can apply to extend.
• Residence card. A foreign national entering with a resident visa must apply to the National Immigration Agency for an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) within 30 days of entry. For employment, the application uses the labour authority's approval letter and a certificate of employment issued within the past month.
• ARC fees. NT$1,000 per year of validity, so NT$3,000 for a three-year card.

7. The local pool

About a third of the Japanese nationals in Taiwan hold permanent residence. If one of them is the chef you need, hiring them avoids the work permit, the turnover test and the salary floor altogether. It is worth a local search before you start a sponsorship, both for speed and to learn what the market pays. For salary context across countries, see sushi chef salary by country; for the neighbouring markets, see South Korea and Hong Kong.

8. Step by step

1. Check the employer test: company age, paid-in capital, average turnover.
2. Run a local search among Japanese residents who already have the right to work.
3. If sponsoring, decide the route for the chef: five years' experience, degree plus experience, or intra-group assignment.
4. Collect employment certificates and evidence of distinction, with translations.
5. Set the salary at or above the current WDA figure.
6. Apply for the work permit through the Ministry of Labor.
7. The chef obtains the resident visa, enters, and applies for the ARC within 30 days.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. The salary threshold is under review; confirm the current rules with Taiwan's Ministry of Labor before acting.