Finding Japanese Chefs in the UK After July 2025

For businesses running Japanese restaurants in the UK, July 2025 was a turning point. Chefs (SOC 5434) were effectively removed from sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa, which closed the main route for bringing in new chefs from abroad.

So how are Japanese restaurants in the UK finding Japanese chefs now? Using official UK Government information (GOV.UK), this article looks at what the rule change involves, how far the transitional arrangements reach, and the allocation and conditions of the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) for Japanese nationals, and sets out the options open to employers.

1. What changed on 22 July 2025

Under the SOC 2020 occupational classification, 5434 Chefs is "Medium Skilled" and 5435 Cooks is "Ineligible". According to GOV.UK, a Medium Skilled code can only be sponsored in one of these cases:

• The job is on the Immigration Salary List
• The job is on the Temporary Shortage List
• Extensions or continuing employment for people who got their first Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) before 22 July 2025

5434 is on neither the Immigration Salary List nor the Temporary Shortage List. That means you cannot newly sponsor a Japanese chef from overseas under SOC 5434. This applies even if your restaurant holds a sponsor licence.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 70,000 vacancies in accommodation and food services in July 2026. The route for overseas hiring has narrowed while staff shortages continue.

2. Who can use the transitional arrangements

Chefs who got their first CoS before 22 July 2025 and are already working as Skilled Workers can extend or continue. The salary requirement in this case is the higher of the general threshold of £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation, and the going rate for 5434 is £33,400 a year (£17.13 an hour). For people who got their first CoS before 4 April 2024, a lower threshold of £25,000 applies.

For comparison, the ONS annual survey (ASHE, 2025 provisional) puts median annual pay for full-time chefs at £30,010.

3. The Youth Mobility Scheme for Japanese nationals: allocation and conditions

The YMS is the UK's version of a working holiday. According to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the programme with Japan began in 2001, and since 2008 it has allowed stays of up to 2 years as the YMS.

On work, holders can "work in most jobs", with no restriction on the employer's sector or the type of job. Kitchen jobs at Japanese restaurants are clearly covered. Self-employment is also allowed if premises are rented, equipment is worth £5,000 or less and there are no employees.

4. Hiring people on the YMS in practice

Timing

Applicants can apply from 6 months before travel, and a decision usually takes 3 weeks. From agreeing terms with a candidate living in Japan to their start date, you can plan on a range of roughly 2 to 6 months. Many people look for work after arriving in the UK, so it is realistic to recruit through Japanese-language communities in the UK alongside recruiting from Japan.

Plan on it ending after 2 years

Japanese nationals cannot extend the YMS or take part again. And as explained above, new sponsorship under SOC 5434 is not available, so under current rules it is generally not possible to switch someone to a Skilled Worker visa after the YMS and keep employing them as a chef. Plan for recruiting a replacement and a handover in the second half of their second year.

Terms

People on the YMS are free to choose their employer. To stop them moving to another restaurant, pay, shifts, help with housing, staff meals and a place where they can learn skills all make a difference. For retention ideas, see retaining chefs.

5. Right to work checks

Employers must check a person's right to work before employment starts. If you fail to check and employ someone without the right to work, you could face a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per worker. Employing someone while knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that they do not have the right to work is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and an unlimited fine. Businesses that are penalised may also be named publicly.

Many non-UK nationals, including YMS holders, prove their right to work with a "share code" obtained online. Keep a record of each check and a tracker of permission expiry dates so that no YMS expiry slips past.

6. Other ways to secure staff

• People already in the UK with the right to work: Japanese nationals married to British citizens, people with settled status, and people whose other immigration status allows work. Recruiting within the Japanese community in the UK is the main channel.
• Developing local staff: with one Japanese chef who has Japanese cuisine skills, you can build a set-up around them to train locally hired staff. Giving a current Skilled Worker chef or a YMS hire a coaching role, and recognising it, also helps retention. We cover how to approach training in Training local staff in Japanese cuisine.
• Short-term skills coaching: if a chef visits from Japan for a short period to coach, check in advance against GOV.UK's list of permitted activities whether this falls within what a Standard Visitor may do. Working in the kitchen and doing the cooking may be treated as work.

7. A two-year hiring cycle

1. Take stock of current staff: list expiry dates by status (Skilled Worker, YMS, other)
2. Hire through the YMS every year: hiring one or two people a year, with second-year staff training the newcomers, spreads the impact of expiries
3. Create a promotion path for local staff: set job levels and pay steps on the assumption that successors to your Japanese chefs will be developed locally
4. Watch for rule changes: if chefs are added in a review of the Temporary Shortage List, the situation changes. Check GOV.UK updates regularly

For a country-by-country comparison of working holidays, see our guide to hiring working holiday makers, and for visas in other countries, our comparison of overseas work visas for cooks. Separate English-language guides are Hiring a Japanese chef in the UK after 2025 and Youth Mobility Scheme for UK restaurants.

This article is general information prepared after checking information published by the UK Government (GOV.UK, ONS) and Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as of 22 September 2026. It is not legal or immigration advice. UK immigration rules change often. For individual cases, consult an OISC-registered immigration adviser or a solicitor in the UK.