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Can a Restaurant Sponsor a Chef Visa? Six Countries Compared, 2026

Which countries still let a restaurant sponsor a chef from Japan, the salary each visa forces, government fees for one hire and published lead times.

Updated September 27, 2026 WashokuJob

Yes, in most of the big markets, but not everywhere and not at any salary. In September 2026 a restaurant can sponsor a chef from Japan in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia if it pays the visa salary floor, and in Canada if the wage clears the provincial threshold. In the United States it depends on who owns the restaurant. In the United Kingdom new overseas chef sponsorship is effectively closed.

For owners, GMs and group HR choosing where to staff from Japan first: open routes, forced salaries, government charges and lead times. What the chef prepares in Japan is in what a chef must prepare in Japan for a work visa. For the choice between US visa types, see US visa options for hiring a chef from Japan.

On this page

  1. Where you can still sponsor a chef
  2. Government charges and lead time for one hire
  3. Setting the offer: the floor, then the market
  4. Working back from the start date
  5. What changed, and when
  6. Other markets: the rule that decides it
  7. What to do this week
  8. Questions employers ask

1. Where you can still sponsor a chef

MarketRoute for a chefStatusSalary the visa forcesLongest first grant
AustraliaSkills in Demand (subclass 482), Core Skills stream. Chef ANZSCO 351311 is on the listOpen for full service restaurants (fast food and limited service are excluded)A$79,423 a year, and at least the market rate for the role4 years
CanadaLMIA, NOC 62200 ChefsOpen at or above the provincial threshold; low wage stream closed in the big citiesHigh wage threshold, e.g. C$36.92/hr Ontario, C$38.40 BC, C$37.50 Alberta, C$36.00 Quebec3 years (high wage)
SingaporeEmployment Pass or S Pass (the Work Permit excludes Japanese nationals)Open, gated by salary and, for the EP, COMPASS pointsS Pass from S$3,300 a month; EP from S$5,600 (both rise with age)2 years, renewals up to 3
MalaysiaEmployment Pass, Category III (Category II for senior roles)OpenRM5,000 a month basic salary (Category III)Up to 5 years (Category III)
United StatesNo chef visa. E-2 if the restaurant is at least 50% owned by Japanese nationals; O-1B for a distinguished chef; EB-3 green card for the long termConditional on ownership or the chef's recordNo fixed floor for E-2 or O-1B; EB-3 must meet the DOL prevailing wageE-2 visa up to 60 months, 2 years per admission; O-1B up to 3 years
United KingdomSkilled Worker, SOC 5434 ChefsClosed for chefs newly recruited from overseas since 22 July 2025Not applicable to new hiresNot applicable

Australia does not require a Trades Recognition Australia skills assessment from Japanese passport holders. In the UK, chef is "medium skilled" and on neither shortage list, so only chefs extending existing permission stay on the route; hire people who already have work rights, such as Youth Mobility Scheme holders.

Country detail lives on the country pages: Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, United Kingdom.

2. Government charges and lead time for one hire

Published government fees, totalled for one chef on a first grant. Adviser fees, translations, flights and housing are extra and usually larger.

MarketGovernment charges, one chefPublished lead time on the employer side
Australia (482, 4 years, turnover under A$10m)Sponsorship A$420 + nomination A$330 + Skilling Australians Fund A$1,200 × 4 + visa charge A$4,015 = A$9,565 (A$11,965 at A$10m turnover or more)Two job ads of at least 4 weeks within the 4 months before nomination. Home Affairs publishes processing times in its online tool; they change monthly
Canada (high wage LMIA)LMIA C$1,000 + work permit C$155 + biometrics C$85 = C$1,2404 weeks of advertising, then an average of 90 business days for a high wage LMIA (August 2026), then the work permit
SingaporeEP: S$105 + S$225 = S$330. S Pass over 2 years: S$105 + S$100 + levy S$650 × 24 = S$15,80514 days on MyCareersFuture unless exempt, then a decision or update within 10 business days
MalaysiaWe did not recheck the pass fee schedule for this page; see the Malaysia guideESD published turnarounds: 5 + 10 + 3 to 10 + 2 to 5 working days, so 20 to 30 working days
United StatesE-2: US$315 visa fee, no issuance fee for Japanese nationals. O-1B: I-129 US$1,055 + Asylum Program Fee US$600 + visa US$205 = US$1,860 (US$1,035 for employers with 25 or fewer staff), premium processing US$2,965 optionalE-2: the embassy in Tokyo does not publish a processing time. O-1B: 15 business days with premium processing, then the Tokyo interview queue (1.5 months for petition based visas, 17 September 2026)

Recurring costs change the ranking: the S Pass is cheap to issue and expensive to keep because the levy runs monthly.

3. Setting the offer: the floor, then the market

  1. Find the floor the visa forces. This is the minimum the application can show, in the currency and form the rule counts. Australia does not count housing or a car toward the A$79,423. Malaysia counts basic salary only, not allowances or bonus.
  2. Find the market rate for the role. Use the official wage data for the city. Our sushi chef salary by country page collects it.
  3. Offer the higher of the two, then add relocation (flights, first weeks of housing). See relocation packages for chefs.

The gap between floor and market is where budgets break:

For the full costing of a hire, including the salary gap, use budgeting an international chef hire.

4. Working back from the start date

Minimum weeks from starting to the chef's travel, using only published steps:

MarketSteps in orderMinimum before travel
Singapore (EP or S Pass)2 weeks advertising, offer, about 2 weeks to a decisionAbout 4 weeks
Malaysia (EP)ESD registration, JTKSM, support letter, EPAbout 4 to 6 weeks
Australia (482)4 weeks advertising, then sponsorship, nomination and visa processing4 weeks plus Home Affairs processing time
Canada (high wage)4 weeks advertising, about 18 weeks for the LMIA, then the work permitAbout 22 weeks plus IRCC processing
United States (E-2)Company and chef documents assembled, emailed to the embassy, interview when invitedNot published; ask counsel for current Tokyo experience

In parallel, the chef needs a passport (about 2 weeks in Japan; MOFA warns of 3 weeks to a month since July 2026), English employment certificates and often a police certificate (about 2 weeks in Tokyo). A chef on an open ended contract can resign on two weeks' notice under the Civil Code, though kitchens usually expect a month. Start these in week one.

5. What changed, and when

6. Other markets: the rule that decides it

MarketThe deciding ruleDetail
TaiwanChef work in food service is designated specialised work; the restaurant must meet a NT$10m turnover test and pay at least NT$47,971 a monthTaiwan
ThailandFour Thai employees and THB 2m capital per foreign worker; THB 50,000 a month minimum for a Japanese nationalThailand
GermanySpecialty cook route: at most two cooks per site, two years of culinary school plus two years of workGermany
IndiaEmployment visa salary floor of Rs 16.25 lakh a yearIndia

7. What to do this week

  1. Find your market's row in section 1. If it says closed or conditional, read the linked page before advertising.
  2. Write the floor and the market rate side by side and decide the offer.
  3. Start the steps that take calendar time: job ads (Australia, Canada, Singapore) or ESD registration (Malaysia).
  4. Send the chef the document list in what a chef must prepare in Japan, so the passport and certificates are ready when you are.

Last reviewed 27 September 2026. Figures that expire: Australia's A$79,423 threshold and fees (next change 1 July 2027); Canada's wage thresholds (reset each year) and the low wage refusal list (runs to 8 October 2026); the LMIA average (published monthly); Singapore pass floors (rise 1 January 2027); US fees and the Tokyo interview queue (checked 17 to 27 September 2026).

Questions employers ask

Can a restaurant in the UK still sponsor a chef from Japan?

Not a chef recruited from overseas for the first time. Since 22 July 2025 code 5434 is medium skilled and on neither shortage list. Chefs already on the route can extend, and people with their own work rights can be hired.

Which country is quickest for sponsoring a Japanese chef?

On published figures, Singapore and Malaysia: about four weeks and four to six weeks of government side steps. Canada is the slowest, with about 22 weeks before the work permit application for a high wage LMIA.

What do the visa fees come to for one chef?

About A$9,565 in Australia for a four year 482 at a small business, C$1,240 in Canada for a high wage LMIA and work permit, S$330 for a Singapore EP, and US$315 for a US E-2 visa. Legal fees, translations and relocation come on top.

Does the chef need a Japanese cook's licence to get a visa?

None of the six markets requires the 調理師免許. It is still useful evidence of training for Australia's experience test and the US E-2 essential skills test.

Our US restaurant is not Japanese owned. Can we still bring a chef?

Not on an E-2. The options are an O-1B if the chef has a documented record of distinction, or an EB-3 green card, which takes years. See the US comparison page for the full decision table.

General information checked against official sources on 27 September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Immigration rules change often and are applied case by case. Verify against the linked official pages and take professional advice before acting.

Sources

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