Hiring and Managing Japanese Chefs in Hong Kong: Visa, Salary and Retention (2026)

This guide answers the questions restaurant owners in Hong Kong ask us most often before hiring a Japanese chef from Japan. Salary ranges reflect the positions Washoku Agent has handled; visa facts come from official government pages, checked on 2026-10-29.

How much do Japanese chefs earn in Hong Kong?

Based on the positions Washoku Agent has handled in Hong Kong, advertised annual packages for Japanese chefs typically fall between JPY 6 and 10 million when converted, with the highest advertised packages reaching around JPY 12 million. These are offers at the time of advertising; the final package depends on city, concept and seniority.

Which roles and restaurant types hire Japanese chefs in Hong Kong?

The demand we see in Hong Kong is concentrated in a few role types and concepts. The most common roles are head chef and junior chef positions, and the most common concepts are teppanyaki, sushi and high-end omakase.

Do Japanese chefs need to speak English, and is housing provided?

Nearly all of our listings accepted beginner-level English. Employers in Hong Kong generally prioritise cooking technique and experience; kitchen English develops on the job. A minority of our listings included housing or a housing allowance.

Which visa lets a restaurant in Hong Kong sponsor a Japanese chef?

An employment visa under the General Employment Policy (GEP), applied for online by the chef and the restaurant together. The Immigration Department asks for a good education background, normally a first degree, or technical qualifications and documented experience, a genuine vacancy that cannot readily be filled locally, and a package in line with the market level for professionals; there is no quota, no advert and no salary figure. The first visa runs 36 months and normally takes four weeks to decide. For cooks below professional level the Labour Department's Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme is a second route, with a six-week local recruitment, a 3:1 local-to-imported ratio for catering kitchens since 16 June 2026 and a levy of HKD 400 a month. Japan and Hong Kong also have a working holiday scheme: 1,500 places a year, ages 18 to 30, 12 months, no more than six months with one employer.

• Eligibility (ImmD, 16 April 2026): 'a good education background, normally a first degree in the relevant field', or 'good technical qualifications, proven professional abilities and/or relevant experience and achievements supported by documentary evidence'; a genuine vacancy; a confirmed offer in a job 'that cannot be readily taken up by the local work force'; a package 'broadly commensurate with the prevailing market level for professionals in the HKSAR'. No language test.
• Salary: no published GEP floor. The Labour Department's June 2026 medians are the public benchmark: HKD 19,670 a month for a Cook (Japanese Cuisine) and HKD 26,900 for a Chief Cook at a non-Chinese restaurant; under the ESLS these are the minimum for an imported cook.
• Employer documents: employment contract or letter of appointment, Business Registration Certificate, proof of financial standing (audited accounts, profit and loss account or profits tax return), company background, and a business plan if the company is under 12 months old. Form ID 990B for the company, ID 990A for the chef.
• Fees and time: application fee HKD 600 plus issuance fee HKD 1,300 (stay over 180 days), both per person including dependants, since 26 February 2025. Decision normally 4 weeks after all documents and the fee are received. Initial stay 36 months or the contract length if shorter; extensions on a 3-2 year pattern, filed at least six weeks before expiry, decided in two to three weeks. Top-tier stream after two years and HKD 2,000,000 of assessable income gives five years without conditions.
• Working holiday: scheme since 1 January 2010, quota 1,500 a year since 2016, ages 18 to 30, 12 months, visa free for Japanese citizens, HKD 20,000 of funds, no permanent employment and no more than six months with the same employer (raised from three months in 2018). Japanese nationals visit visa-free for 90 days but cannot work on that entry.

1. Set the position, salary and benefits in a written contract at or above the market level for the role (use the Labour Department medians of HKD 19,670 to HKD 26,900 as the floor for the discussion), and collect the chef's certificates, employer references and a dated record of positions held.
2. Prepare the company file: Business Registration Certificate, latest audited accounts or profits tax return, a company profile, and a business plan if the restaurant company is less than 12 months old.
3. Submit the GEP application online: the chef's part (ID 990A) and the employer's part (ID 990B) with all documents, and pay the HKD 600 application fee; add dependants in the same application if needed. The ImmD normally decides within four weeks of receiving everything.
4. On approval, pay the HKD 1,300 issuance fee, collect the visa label and send it to the chef; the chef enters Hong Kong with the label, because the 90-day visa-free visit does not allow work.
5. Calendar the extension for month 33 (file within three months before expiry and at least six weeks before, HKD 600 plus HKD 1,300), keep the employment contract current, and seek prior approval from the ImmD before any change of employer or post.

Which visa lets a Hong Kong restaurant sponsor a Japanese chef?

An employment visa under the General Employment Policy (GEP), issued by the Immigration Department (ImmD) and applied for by the chef with the restaurant as the employing company. Hong Kong has no chef-specific visa and no quota under the GEP. The ImmD page (16 April 2026) says an application 'may be favourably considered' if there is no security objection and no known record of serious crime; the applicant 'has a good education background, normally a first degree in the relevant field', while 'good technical qualifications, proven professional abilities and/or relevant experience and achievements supported by documentary evidence may also be accepted'; 'there is a genuine job vacancy'; the applicant 'has a confirmed offer of employment and is employed in a job relevant to his/her academic qualifications or work experience that cannot be readily taken up by the local work force'; and 'the remuneration package including income, accommodation, medical and other fringe benefits is broadly commensurate with the prevailing market level for professionals in the HKSAR'. The chef completes form ID 990A and the restaurant completes ID 990B ('to be completed by the employing company'); both are submitted online with the supporting documents and the fee. There is no labour market test, but the 'cannot be readily taken up by the local work force' test is decided case by case, so a sushi or kaiseki chef trained in Japan is an easier case than a general line cook. A second route exists for cooks below professional level: the Labour Department's Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS), which lists 'Cook (Japanese Cuisine)' and 'Chief Cook / No. 1 Cook' as common posts for non-Chinese catering. It is a labour-importation scheme with local-recruitment, manning-ratio and levy rules (see below) rather than a talent visa.

What does the chef have to show, and what is the salary rule?

Under the GEP the chef uploads a recent photograph, the passport, a Hong Kong identity card if any, and 'proof of academic qualifications and relevant work experience'. The page accepts technical qualifications, proven professional abilities or relevant experience and achievements 'supported by documentary evidence' in place of a degree, so a chef without a university degree should prepare employer references, culinary school certificates and a record of positions held. There is no published salary floor for the GEP: the test is that the package is 'broadly commensurate with the prevailing market level for professionals in the HKSAR'. For a benchmark of the market level, the Labour Department's List of Common Posts (revised 22 June 2026) gives median monthly wages of HKD 19,670 for a Cook (Japanese Cuisine) at a non-Chinese restaurant (Secondary 3 education, 1 year of experience, 9 working hours a day), HKD 26,900 for a Chief Cook or No. 1 Cook (Secondary 5, 5 years), and HKD 19,420 for a Cook (Japanese Cuisine) in a hotel. Those figures are the floor for imported workers under the ESLS, not a GEP threshold, but an offer below them is unlikely to read as 'commensurate with the market level for professionals'. Neither route has a language test; the GEP page lists none.

What does the restaurant have to show?

For the GEP, the employing company uploads the employment contract or letter of appointment stating post, salary, benefits and employment period; its Business Registration Certificate; proof of financial standing, for example an audited financial report, profit and loss account or profits tax return; documents on the company's background, business activities, products and markets; and, for a company set up within the last 12 months, a detailed business plan with source of funds, estimated capital injection, expected turnover and proposed local job posts. No paid-up capital figure, local-hiring ratio or advert is required. The ESLS is the opposite: the employer must show 'genuine difficulties in recruiting local workers at technician level or below', run a local recruitment exercise set by the Labour Department (advertise within 14 days of passing preliminary screening, at least 4 newspaper adverts or one online advert of 14 consecutive days, no contact details other than the Labour Department's, no restrictions on age or sex), pay the median monthly wage of a comparable position, and keep a manning ratio of full-time local employees to imported workers. The basic Tier 1 rule is 2 local full-time employees per imported worker and a four-week local recruitment period. Since 16 June 2026 the catering production section (cook, junior cook, barbecue cook, drink maker, bar supervisor) and the table service section are vetted under Tier 2: 3 local full-time employees per imported worker, counted across all posts in that section, a six-week local recruitment period, and attendance at a Labour Department job fair once every two weeks during it; an employer who misses the arranged job fair has the application rejected. The Labour Advisory Board is consulted on each case, the employment contract is a Standard Employment Contract of no more than 24 months, imported workers must return to their place of origin when it expires, and approval is not renewed automatically. Employers who gave false information on local staff have been barred from the scheme for a year (Labour Department sanction of 9 June 2026). The Labour Department pages we opened set no nationality rule, so confirm with the Supplementary Labour Division (2150 6363) that a chef recruited from Japan can be covered before you rely on this route.

How much are the fees, how long does it take, and how long can the chef stay?

GEP fees since 11 a.m. on 26 February 2025 (the GEP is a 'specified scheme' under Schedule 2 of the Immigration Regulations): an application fee of HKD 600 per application, payable by the principal applicant and each dependant and 'non-refundable in any circumstances', plus a visa or entry permit issuance fee on approval of HKD 1,300 where the period of stay is more than 180 days or HKD 600 where it is 180 days or less. A chef on a 36-month visa therefore pays HKD 1,900 in total; an extension costs the same HKD 600 plus HKD 1,300. The ImmD states that a GEP entry application 'normally takes four weeks upon receipt of all the required documents and the relevant application fee' and does not start processing until everything is received. Successful applicants 'will normally be granted an initial stay of 36 months on employment condition, or in accordance with the duration of the employment contract (whichever is shorter)', and extensions follow 'the 3-2 year pattern', also on employment condition; the chef applies within the three months before the limit of stay expires and in all cases at least six weeks before, and an extension normally takes two to three weeks. A chef who has worked under the GEP for at least two years and had an assessable income for salaries tax of HKD 2,000,000 or more in the previous year of assessment may apply under the top-tier employment stream for a five-year extension on time limitation only, with no employment condition; that income level is out of reach for most kitchen roles. The chef may bring a spouse and unmarried dependent children under 18 as dependants, who may work or study in Hong Kong; the sponsor must show the means to support them 'at a standard well above the subsistence level' and suitable accommodation. A change of employer needs the Director of Immigration's prior approval. Japanese nationals may visit Hong Kong without a visa for up to 90 days, but may not work on that entry; the employment visa label must be issued before the chef enters for work. Under the ESLS the employer pays the Employees Retraining Levy of HKD 400 for each month of the Standard Employment Contract, up to 24 months (HKD 9,600 for a two-year contract), in a lump sum after approval and before the Immigration Department issues the visa; it is not refundable. The Labour Department publishes no processing time for the ESLS; the local recruitment alone takes four or six weeks. The 'time' estimate on this page adds the official GEP steps (about 4 to 6 weeks when documents are complete) to the chef's notice period in Japan, usually 1 to 2 months.

Is there a working holiday route?

Yes. The Hong Kong and Japan Working Holiday Scheme has run since 1 January 2010 (Hong Kong Government press release of 27 October 2009, 250 places a year at the start) and the reciprocal annual quota was raised from 250 to 1,500 on 25 August 2016 (Labour Department Working Holiday Scheme website). The ImmD page (9 February 2026) sets the conditions for Japanese citizens: aged 18 to 30, ordinarily resident in Japan, primary intention to holiday, a stay of 'not more than 12 months', financial proof of at least HKD 20,000, a return air ticket or the funds to buy one, and 'sufficient medical insurance'; the visa is 'free of charge' for Japanese citizens and is applied for online. Work is allowed only as 'an incidental aspect of their holiday' and 'permanent employment is not permitted'; Japanese citizens are 'not allowed to work for the same employer for more than six months'. That six-month limit replaced the earlier three-month limit for visas obtained from 1 January 2018 (Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong notice, 22 December 2017). The page sets no occupational restriction, so a working-holiday chef can work in your kitchen for up to six months and then must move to another employer or switch to a GEP visa, which needs a fresh application and the HKD 600 plus HKD 1,300 fees.

Rules change. We confirm the current requirements with the employer before an offer.

Where do restaurants in Hong Kong find Japanese chefs?

Hong Kong has about 1,480 Japanese restaurants in the agriculture ministry's November 2025 count, up 80 from the 2023 survey, and the Census and Statistics Department figure quoted by JETRO's JFOODO office is the same 1,480 for 2024, the largest non-Chinese cuisine ahead of Thai (390). The Japanese resident community is 23,228 people (October 2025, up 1.5%, the tenth-largest Japanese community in any city abroad). Hong Kong also has Japanese-language free papers and classifieds with small job sections; the channels below are the ones with verifiable listings: the two English-language job banks, the Japanese-speaking recruitment agencies that post on them, the Japan-side career sites, and the working-holiday pool. No government advert is required before a General Employment Policy application; the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme, by contrast, requires a six-week local recruitment with job fairs before a cook can be imported.

Washoku Agent sits alongside these channels as the specialist route: we hold a registered pool of Japanese chefs, screen for technique and willingness to relocate, interpret interviews and manage the paperwork. You can run local channels in parallel and use us for the chef you cannot find locally.

Hire from Japan or from the local market in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong gives you two sponsored routes and one trial route. The General Employment Policy visa covers a chef whose training and experience are documented, with no quota, no advert and no salary figure, but the package must sit at the market level for professionals and the first visa runs 36 months. The Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme covers cooks below professional level and, since 16 June 2026, demands three local full-time kitchen staff per imported cook, a six-week local recruitment with job fairs every two weeks, the median wage (HKD 19,670 for a Cook (Japanese Cuisine), HKD 26,900 for a Chief Cook) and a levy of HKD 400 a month. The working holiday scheme (1,500 places a year, ages 18 to 30) lets a Japanese cook work for you for up to six months without sponsorship. Local hiring draws on 23,228 Japanese residents (October 2025) and on Hong Kong-trained cooks from the job banks.

Common hiring challenges in Hong Kong, and how to keep the chef

What owners and chefs say in public, in their own words:

Not ready to hire full-time? Start with a project: a Japanese chef can develop a menu or train your team for a few weeks. See how a project works.

How do restaurants in Hong Kong hire a Japanese chef through Washoku Agent?

Frequently asked questions