Opening in London: Who You Can Send From Japan in 2026

Since 22 July 2025 you cannot send a chef to a new London site on a work visa: chefs (SOC 5434) are not eligible for sponsorship or for a Global Business Mobility transfer. What still works is narrow: a genuinely graduate-level role outside the kitchen, paid at least £52,500, can transfer if the occupation itself is on the eligible list; a trainer can visit to teach UK staff, not to cook for customers; and a candidate aged 18 to 30 can come on their own Youth Mobility Scheme visa. Build the opening plan around a locally found head chef and a rotating YMS junior team.

1. Chef sponsorship is closed, and that sets the plan

Since 22 July 2025, chefs (SOC 5434) can be sponsored as new Skilled Workers only if their first certificate of sponsorship predates that date. Cooks (5435) were never eligible. Chefs are also not on the occupations list for a Global Business Mobility transfer, so head office cannot move its own head chef into a London site as a Senior or Specialist Worker either, regardless of salary or years of service. This differs from a US or Australian opening, where ownership structure decides who goes; in London, the occupation itself rules the chef role out. The full "possible or not" table, and what to tell a candidate in Japan, is in hiring for a UK restaurant from Japan; treat it as the reference and this page as the opening-specific plan on top of it.

2. Who can actually be sent, role by role

Plan on zero chefs sent from Japan. The one theoretical opening is a corporate function role that sits on the eligible occupations list, pays at the threshold, and is not, in substance, running the kitchen. Treat it as a rare exception your immigration adviser can rule in or out early, and build the real plan around the rows below it.

3. Social insurance and tax for anyone you send

If you do send someone, on a Senior or Specialist Worker visa or for a longer training assignment, the Japan-UK social security agreement (in force since February 2001) is what decides whether they keep paying into Japan's pension system or start paying UK National Insurance.

• Pension only. Unlike France's agreement with Japan, the UK agreement coordinates public pension contributions only, not health insurance. A UK Class 1 National Insurance exemption under a certificate of coverage covers only the pension element; sort private medical cover or NHS access separately.
• Certificate of coverage. The employer applies to a Japanese pension office, generally from around six months before the assignment starts, so the employee stays in Japan's pension system and is exempt from UK National Insurance for the assignment.
• Longer than most agreements. The standard exemption runs up to five years. If a posting is unexpectedly extended beyond that, the Japan-UK agreement specifically allows up to three further years, longer than the case-by-case extension most other agreements offer.
• No coordination for family. The agreement has no provision for an accompanying family member's own contributions. A partner who also works in the UK needs their own National Insurance position checked separately.
• Income tax. A trainer on a short visit within the treaty's short-stay threshold, paid by the Japanese company rather than a UK employer, can stay taxed only in Japan; a longer assignment usually makes the person UK tax resident from day one of work here. Run the Japanese year-end adjustment before departure for anyone posted a year or more.

The general mechanism (how a certificate of coverage is applied for, and what "exempt" actually changes) is explained once in social security agreements and chefs; this section states only what is specific to the UK agreement. For residency and tax more broadly, see tax for employees working abroad.

4. Combining a small secondment with local hires and YMS

Because almost nobody can be sent on a work visa, the opening team is built from three sources, in this order of how much control you have over timing:

• Head chef found in the UK. Most candidates are Japanese cuisine chefs already working in London, so a concrete written offer moves faster than a general search. Pay ladder and local schedule: hiring a Japanese chef in the UK after 2025; London pay and candidates: hiring a sushi chef in London.
• Youth Mobility Scheme cooks. Agreed in Japan, arriving on their own visa, for up to 24 months. Treat them as rotating junior staff, not the core of the kitchen, and start sourcing well before opening since the visa is theirs to apply for. Calendar: the Youth Mobility Scheme employer guide.
• A short training visit. Send a trainer as a Standard Visitor to teach prep, knife work and plating before opening, and keep them off the rota during service.

A UK-based head chef needs a compelling offer against their current job, not a template; a YMS cook is gone within two years and cannot be re-sponsored afterwards; a visiting trainer cannot cover a shift if the head chef is delayed. Build slack into the schedule for these failure points.

5. A schedule counted back from opening day

This week: list every candidate you are counting on with their visa route and the date each step above falls due, and get a UK immigration adviser's answer on any corporate role you are hoping will qualify for a Senior or Specialist Worker transfer before you build a plan around it.

A briefing you can adapt for someone visiting from Japan to train, not to cook for customers:

6. Government cost of the one route that survives

For the rare case where a genuinely eligible corporate role does transfer on a Senior or Specialist Worker visa, a small sponsor sending one person for three years pays:

A medium or large sponsor pays £1,682 for the licence and £1,320 for the first year of the skills charge instead. This excludes salary, relocation, legal fees and the cost of establishing that the role genuinely qualifies. For every other route in this article the direct government cost is nil: a YMS visa is paid by the candidate (see the cost table in hiring for a UK restaurant from Japan), and hiring a UK-based head chef locally has no immigration fee at all, only National Insurance and pension costs, set out in hiring a Japanese chef in the UK after 2025.

General information checked against official sources on 27 September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. UK immigration rules change often. Ask an OISC-registered immigration adviser about eligibility, a Japanese pension office about coverage, and a tax adviser about your case.