Getting a Chef's Employment and Graduation Certificates From Japan

A chef's visa file needs proof of experience and training: a certificate of employment (zaishoku shomeisho) from each restaurant and a certificate of graduation (sotsugyo shomeisho) from any cooking school. Japan has no fixed format for either, so the reliable approach is to have the candidate request specific items in writing, using Article 22 of the Labour Standards Act, which obliges a former employer to issue one on request. Start this the moment you make an offer: a closed restaurant or an unresponsive former employer can take weeks to work around, and every visa deadline assumes the document already exists.

1. Why these two documents, and who owns what

Most skilled work visas open to chefs require proof of qualifications, experience, or both; Australia's 482, for example, requires at least a year of relevant work experience and does not accept a reference letter alone. The certificates in Japanese say nothing to an officer unless their content and their translation meet the destination's rules, which is a large enough topic to have its own page: employment certificate translation for visas covers the translator rules for the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and the notarisation and apostille sequence in Japan. This page covers what comes before that: getting a usable Japanese original, and what it needs to say.

2. If a former employer won't issue one: start here

Put this problem first because it is the one that actually blows a visa timeline, and because the fix takes time. Chefs' careers often include restaurants that have closed or a former head chef who has moved on.

• The employer is legally obliged to respond. Article 22 of the Labour Standards Act requires a former employer to issue a certificate without delay when a worker asks, covering the period of employment, type of work, position, wages or reason for leaving. Have the candidate send a written request naming exactly these items.
• If the restaurant has closed, ask for a signed statement from the former owner personally, or from a former colleague; whether these substitute for a certificate is up to the receiving authority, so check its instructions and prepare a written explanation of the gap either way.
• Gather supporting evidence in parallel, whether or not the certificate comes through: the year-end withholding slip (gensen choshu-hyo), pay slips and a copy of the employment contract. Home Affairs Australia notes explicitly that a reference on its own is not enough evidence of employment, and asks for exactly this kind of supporting paperwork.

Ask at interview whether the candidate can actually get certificates from past employers. An early no changes your visa timeline immediately, rather than three weeks before a filing deadline. See also reference checks for chefs from Japan.

3. Getting the certificate: current job, past job, closed restaurant

4. What the employment certificate must state

Ask for the following, explicitly, whether the certificate ends up in Japanese, English, or both:

Weekly hours and how the chef's title changed over time matter most: they decide whether the experience was full time, and from when the chef held a fully qualified cook's role, which affects how the years are counted. "Worked as itamae" tells an officer nothing; Japanese kitchen titles mean little outside Japan, so spell duties out (see Japanese kitchen roles for the equivalents). Assume the officer may contact the employer, so ask for company letterhead and a named contact who can confirm the certificate; a small owner-run restaurant with no letterhead can still produce a usable document with its name, address, phone number and the owner's signature.

5. Graduation certificates and school records

For a graduate of a licensed cook training school (chouri shi yosei shisetsu), ask for the graduation certificate (sotsugyo shomeisho) and, where useful, the academic transcript, rather than the original diploma. Whether the school issues these in English varies, so have the candidate ask the school office directly; if it does, no translation step is needed for that document.

The cook's licence (chourishi menkyo) is a separate document from the school record; for a chef who obtained the licence by graduating from a training school, submitting both keeps the history consistent. How to translate and certify the licence itself is covered in translating the Japanese cook's licence, not here.

6. Bilingual templates: Japanese original and English translation

Pass the Japanese template to the employer if they are willing to issue an original in this form; pass the English template alongside it if a translation is also needed. Keep dates, the company seal position and the signatory identical between the two.

Spell the name exactly as in the passport on both versions. Mixed romanisation (different spellings of the same name across documents) is one of the most common reasons a visa file goes back for clarification.

7. Translation and authentication, in brief

If the employer issues English directly, using the template above, most destinations need no further translator certification, though a submitted Japanese version must match it exactly. If only the Japanese original exists, it needs translating, and the rules for who may certify that translation differ by destination (the US, UK, Canada and Australia each set their own requirement), and some receiving authorities also want the Japanese original notarised and apostilled or officially certified before or after translation. All of that detail, worked through step by step, is on employment certificate translation for visas; check it before commissioning a translation, since the wrong translator or the wrong order of authentication means redoing the work.

8. Checklist before you submit

• Asked at interview whether past employers will actually issue certificates, and planned for a no
• Sent the Article 22 request in writing, naming the exact items needed
• Name spelled identically to the passport across every document
• Dates of employment include day, month and year, with any gaps explained
• Weekly hours and duties are stated in concrete language, not just a job title
• Signatory, seal or signature, date of issue and a verification contact are included
• Graduation certificate and, if relevant, the cook's licence are consistent with the employment history
• Checked employment certificate translation for visas for the destination's translator and authentication rules before commissioning a translation

General information, not legal or immigration advice. Document and translation requirements vary by country, visa type and date. Always check the receiving authority's current guidance before applying, and consult a professional where needed.