Opening in Paris: Intra-Group Transfers, PVT and the SMIC

The first thing a Japanese restaurant company should check when planning a Paris opening is whether it can send a chef who already works in its restaurants in Japan to France as an intra-group transfer. France has a residence permit for employees of a foreign company who come to France on an intra-group move, and the employer does not need to apply separately for a work authorisation. If you can meet the salary condition, it is a practical route for a company with restaurants in Japan.

This article is written for a Japanese restaurant company or owner opening in Paris. The full set of hiring routes in France is compared in Hiring a Japanese chef in France.

1. Paris in numbers

Japanese restaurants in France fell by 1,290 in two years, the largest fall among the top 10 countries after China. The market has changed sharply in a short time. For a new entrant, choosing the concept and site carefully goes hand in hand with a staffing model that can run a high quality restaurant with a small team.

2. An advantage for companies with restaurants in Japan: the intra-group residence permit

France's "talent – salarié qualifié" residence card has a "salarié en mission" track for intra-group transfers. According to Service-Public, the main conditions are:

What this means for the opening plan:

• Choose from people who have worked in the group for three months or more. Chefs in your own restaurants in Japan can qualify. To send a chef you are recruiting from outside, employ them in the Japanese company first and let them complete three months' service.
• Pay at least €39,582 a year. That is roughly 1.8 times the annual SMIC of €22,404.20. Think about how you will explain the gap to locally hired staff.
• Up to four years. Use that time to develop a local sous chef, so a handover does not become a scramble.

Sending your own chef versus hiring locally is compared in secondment versus local hiring.

3. The head of the French company

The same talent residence card has a track for the legal representative of a company in France (mandataire social). It requires at least three months' service (as an employee or corporate officer) and gross annual pay of at least €67,212.60, three times the SMIC. If you send the head of the French company from Japan, put that figure in the staff budget.

4. Working holiday (PVT)

Japan and France have a working holiday arrangement (PVT) with an annual quota of 1,800 (MOFA, as of 1 April 2026). According to the French Embassy in Japan, applicants must be 18 to 30 at the time of application, the visa is valid for one year, it covers only France's European departments, and holders may take up employment.

It is a way to bring young cooks and front of house staff for a one year stint. See hiring on working holidays.

5. Local hiring and the pay floor

43.5% of Japanese nationals in France are permanent residents, and 10,037 Japanese nationals live in Paris. For a front of house manager or Japanese speaking staff, look locally first. When you hire, check that the person's residence permit allows them to work.

Pay for local staff cannot fall below the SMIC (€12.31 an hour, checked September 2026). The SMIC is revised each year on 1 January as a rule, but it can also change mid-year, as it did under an order dated 22 May 2026. Budget on the figure current when you check.

6. Building it into the opening schedule

How to work back from the opening date is covered in staffing an overseas opening.

7. Checklist

• Has the chef you plan to send worked in the group for at least three months?
• Is gross annual pay in France at least €39,582?
• If the company head comes from Japan, is pay of at least €67,212.60 a year in the budget?
• Are PVT participants planned as staff for a fixed year?
• Is local staff pay at or above the SMIC?

General information, not legal or immigration advice. Amounts and conditions were checked on Service-Public and other official sources as of September 2026. Ask a French adviser about your case.