Hiring and Managing Japanese Chefs in New Zealand: Visa, Salary and Retention (2026)

This guide answers the questions restaurant owners in New Zealand 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 2026-11-03.

How much do Japanese chefs earn in New Zealand?

Packages for Japanese chefs in New Zealand vary with the city, the concept and the chef's seniority, so we do not print a range here. Contact us for current figures for your position.

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

Whether employers in New Zealand accept beginner-level English or include housing differs from one restaurant to the next. Ask us for the current picture before you write the job description.

Which visa lets a restaurant in New Zealand sponsor a Japanese chef?

An Accredited Employer Work Visa from Immigration New Zealand. The restaurant becomes an accredited employer (NZD 775, first term 12 months), advertises the job for at least 14 days on a national site such as Seek or Trade Me, passes a job check (NZD 735) showing a full-time job of at least 30 hours at the New Zealand market rate, and the chef applies (NZD 1,540) with 2 years of kitchen experience or a level 4 qualification. The visa runs up to 5 years and the maximum stay is 5 years. Head Chef, Sous Chef and Chef de Partie jobs need no English test; line jobs coded Other Chef do since 1 June 2026. Chef is not on the Green List, so residence comes through pay (NZD 52.50 an hour plus 2 years of New Zealand work for 6 points) or the Amber List version of the Skilled Work Experience pathway (5 years in New Zealand including 2 years at NZD 42.00). Japanese nationals visit visa-free for under 3 months and can work a year on a working holiday with no quota.

• Salary: the median wage requirement was removed on 10 March 2025, so the legal floor is the adult minimum wage, NZD 23.95 an hour since 1 April 2026, but the job check requires the market rate for the role, which INZ reads from Tahatū (chefs NZD 25 to 37 an hour most commonly) and job boards. NZD 28.00 an hour opens the partner's work rights; NZD 52.50 an hour earns 3 residence points. What Japanese chefs are paid in New Zealand is in the salary section above.
• Chef documents: 2 or more years of relevant experience proven with payslips or tax records, or a level 4 qualification in cookery; a passport, a police certificate for a stay of 24 months or more; no English test for skill level 1 and 2 jobs; an English test or evidence for a skill level 3 job since 1 June 2026.
• Employer test: accreditation with declarations (no costs passed to the chef, settlement information within 1 month, employment law compliance), an advert of at least 14 days stating pay range, hours, duties and minimum skills, and a job check within 90 days of the advert closing; the agreement may not contain a 90-day trial period. Work and Income engagement applies only to skill level 4 and 5 jobs, which chefs are not.
• Fees and time: accreditation NZD 775 or 1,280, job check NZD 735, AEWV NZD 1,540, partner visa NZD 1,630, residence NZD 6,450, all unchanged since 1 October 2024. INZ's wait-time table on 3 November 2026 showed accreditation in about 2 working days, hospitality job checks in 3 days (80 percent within 2 weeks) and hospitality AEWVs in 2.5 weeks (80 percent within 5 weeks); plan on 6 to 10 weeks from the first day of advertising.
• Length of stay: up to 5 years, then 12 months outside New Zealand unless residence has been granted. Chef is on the Amber List of the new Skilled Work Experience pathway (5 years of relevant work in New Zealand, 2 of them at NZD 42.00 an hour) and not on the Green List. A partner gets an open work visa when the chef earns NZD 28.00 an hour in a skill level 1 to 3 job.

1. Apply for AEWV employer accreditation online with your NZBN, BIC code and IRD number (NZD 775 for up to 5 migrants; INZ averaged 2 working days in early November 2026), and decide the occupation code: Sous Chef or Chef de Partie (skill level 2, no English test) for a skilled line role, Head Chef/Executive Chef (level 1) for the kitchen lead, Other Chef (level 3, English required) only if the duties fit nothing else.
2. Write the advert with the duties, the pay range at or above the market rate, the guaranteed hours (at least 30 a week) and the minimum skills, and run it for at least 14 calendar days on Seek or Trade Me; keep screenshots and any New Zealand applications and the reasons they did not fit.
3. Within 90 days of the advert closing, lodge the job check (NZD 735) with the signed employment agreement (no 90-day trial clause) and a start date within 6 months; INZ took about 3 working days for hospitality roles, 80 percent within 2 weeks.
4. Send the chef the job token; the chef applies online for the AEWV (NZD 1,540) with payslips or tax records proving 2 years of kitchen experience, a passport and a police certificate, and INZ decides 80 percent of hospitality applications within 5 weeks; if the partner comes too, the chef must earn at least NZD 28.00 an hour and the partner applies for the Partner of a Worker Work Visa (NZD 1,630).
5. After arrival, give the settlement information within 1 month, enrol the chef in KiwiSaver (3.5 percent employer contribution since 1 April 2026), register for PAYE and ACC, and plan the residence route early: pay at NZD 52.50 an hour plus 2 years of New Zealand work for the points route, or NZD 42.00 an hour on the Amber List pathway, remembering that IELTS 6.5 is needed for the residence application.

Which permit lets a New Zealand restaurant hire a Japanese chef?

The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), issued by Immigration New Zealand (INZ). New Zealand has no chef visa for Japanese nationals (the only cuisine-specific visa, the Thai Chefs Work Visa, is open to citizens of Thailand only), so almost every chef hired from Japan for more than a working holiday comes on an AEWV. The scheme has three steps, and the restaurant does the first two. First, the restaurant becomes an accredited employer: standard accreditation covers up to 5 migrant workers at a time, high-volume accreditation 6 or more, and the first accreditation lasts 12 months. Second, the restaurant passes a job check for the vacancy: it must have advertised the job to New Zealanders, offer at least 30 hours a week, pay the New Zealand market rate for the role, and classify the job by occupation code and skill level. Third, the chef applies for the AEWV with the job token the restaurant sends. Since 9 March 2026 chef jobs are classified under New Zealand's National Occupation List (NOL) rather than ANZSCO for AEWV purposes: Head Chef/Executive Chef (NOL 141113) is skill level 1, Sous Chef, code 351315 and Chef de Partie, code 351314 are skill level 2, and Demi Chef de Partie, code 351313 and Other Chef, code 351311 are skill level 3. The level matters: it sets the advertising period (14 days for levels 1 to 3), the maximum continuous stay (5 years for levels 1 to 3, 3 years for levels 4 and 5), whether the chef must prove English (required for level 3, not for levels 1 and 2 since 1 June 2026) and whether the partner gets work rights. The AEWV is granted for up to 5 years in line with the job offer, and after the maximum stay the chef must normally spend 12 months outside New Zealand before holding another AEWV, unless the chef has moved to residence. Japanese nationals may enter New Zealand without a visa for less than 3 months with an NZeTA, but the AEWV page says only that applicants already in New Zealand must hold a valid visa and will normally receive an interim visa if it expires during processing; the embassy route with the visa approved before arrival is the standard path for a planned start date.

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

Skills: the chef needs either 2 or more years of relevant work experience (full-time equivalent, proven with third-party documents such as payslips or tax records, not a CV alone) or a qualification at level 4 or higher on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework in the same field; a bachelor's degree or higher may be in any field. INZ reduced the experience requirement from 3 years to 2 years on 10 March 2025. New Zealand does not license cooks, so a Japanese chef with 2 years of kitchen experience needs no recognition of the Japanese 調理師 licence or culinary school diploma to hold an AEWV; if the chef has less than 2 years and wants to rely on a Japanese diploma, an International Qualification Assessment from NZQA would be needed to show it sits at level 4 or above, and we could not verify the fee or time for that on an official page at the time of writing. The skill evidence is waived if the job pays at least 2 times the median wage (NZD 70.00 an hour since 9 March 2026). English: none for Head Chef, Sous Chef or Chef de Partie (skill levels 1 and 2); from 1 June 2026 a chef applying under a skill level 3 occupation (Other Chef, Demi Chef de Partie) must show English ability, by an approved test taken within 2 years, or through citizenship, work or study in English, with a transitional exemption for people whose current AEWV expires on or before 1 December 2026. Character and health: police certificates less than 6 months old for a stay of 24 months or more; a chest X-ray is not required from Japan, which INZ treats as a low TB incidence country. Salary rule: the blanket median wage requirement for AEWV jobs was removed on 10 March 2025, so the legal floor is the adult minimum wage, NZD 23.95 an hour since 1 April 2026 (NZD 23.50 before that; the 1 April 2027 rate is normally announced in December), but the job check requires the New Zealand market rate: INZ defines it as the pay needed to recruit a New Zealand citizen or resident for equivalent work (immigration instruction W2.2.15), uses the government career site Tahatū as its first reference and Seek and Trade Me data as secondary sources, and the whole pay range in the job check must sit at or above the market rate on the day the job check is lodged (Visa Pak 646, 3 October 2025). Tahatū puts chef pay at NZD 24 an hour at the low end, NZD 25 to 37 most commonly and NZD 45 at the top. Two higher thresholds are optional but useful: NZD 28.00 an hour (80 percent of the median wage) lets the chef's partner hold an open work visa, and NZD 52.50 an hour (1.5 times the median) earns 3 points toward residence. What Japanese chefs are paid in New Zealand is in the salary section above.

What does the restaurant have to show?

Accreditation first. The restaurant applies online with its New Zealand Business Number, Business Industry Classification code and IRD number, may be asked to prove the business is viable and genuinely operating, and makes a set of declarations: to comply with employment law and the Immigration Act 2009, not to pass recruitment, accreditation or job check costs to the migrant, to give the worker settlement information about working and living in New Zealand within 1 month of the start date, and to report changes such as the chef leaving. People in the business must not have employed migrants without the right visa, given INZ false information or be banned as directors. Standard accreditation costs NZD 775 (up to 5 migrants), high-volume NZD 1,280 (6 or more), an upgrade NZD 505, and a reconsideration of a declined application NZD 250. INZ's wait-time table on 3 November 2026 showed an average of 2 working days for accreditation and 80 percent completed within 1.5 weeks. INZ runs post-accreditation checks on about 16 percent of accredited employers each year and had revoked 1,728 accreditations and suspended 1,087 by 30 September 2026, so the commitments are enforced. Then the job check (NZD 735, valid 6 months). Before applying, the restaurant advertises the job for at least 14 calendar days for a skill level 1 to 3 chef on a general national job site such as Seek or Trade Me; the advert must state the duties, the minimum and maximum pay or salary, the type of work and minimum guaranteed hours, and the minimum skills, experience and qualifications. The job check must be lodged within 90 days of the advert closing and the start date must be within 6 months of lodging. Advertising is waived only for Green List jobs or jobs paying at least NZD 70.00 an hour, and chefs are not on the Green List. Work and Income engagement and a 21-day advert apply only to skill level 4 and 5 jobs, which no chef occupation is. The job check also carries the signed employment agreement for at least 30 hours a week at the market rate; since 29 October 2023 the agreement must not contain a 90-day trial period, even though New Zealand law allows trial periods for other hires. INZ's wait-time table showed job checks for hospitality roles averaging 3 working days with 80 percent within 2 weeks. After the chef starts, the restaurant deducts PAYE tax, enrols the chef in KiwiSaver (the compulsory employer contribution rose from 3 percent to 3.5 percent of gross pay on 1 April 2026 and rises to 4 percent on 1 April 2028), pays the ACC Work levy on the chef's earnings, and keeps time and wage records. Japan and New Zealand have no social security agreement (the Japan Pension Service list of 24 agreement countries, updated 27 October 2025, does not include New Zealand), so a chef hired locally pays into KiwiSaver like any employee and keeps any Japanese pension record separately. Only a licensed immigration adviser, a New Zealand lawyer or another exempt person may give the restaurant immigration advice for a fee.

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

Fees, all NZD and all in force since 1 October 2024 (the last change): employer accreditation 775 standard or 1,280 high-volume; job check 735; AEWV 1,540 (fee 480 plus immigration levy 1,060); Partner of a Worker Work Visa 1,630; Skilled Residence (Skilled Migrant Category) 6,450; Japan working holiday visa 770 in total (670 fee and levy plus the NZD 100 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy); NZeTA for a visa-free visit NZD 17 in the app or NZD 23 on the website plus the NZD 100 levy. Time: INZ states that 80 percent of AEWV applications are decided within 5 weeks; its weekly wait-time table on 3 November 2026 showed hospitality AEWVs averaging 2.5 weeks with 80 percent within 5 weeks, skill level 2 roles 2 weeks and 4.5 weeks, and skill level 3 roles 3 weeks and 6 weeks. Adding the three steps, a restaurant that starts from zero should allow about 14 days of advertising plus roughly 2 to 3 months for accreditation, job check and visa, and an accredited restaurant with a current accreditation about 6 to 10 weeks from the day the advert opens; those sums are ours, not INZ's. Stay: the AEWV is issued for up to 5 years to match the job offer; the maximum continuous stay is 5 years for skill level 1 to 3 chefs (3 years for level 4 and 5 jobs), after which the chef must normally leave for 12 months in a row before another AEWV, unless residence has been granted. Residence: chef is not on either tier of the Green List (Appendix 13, in force 23 March 2026, lists no chef, cook or hospitality occupation), so there is no straight-to-residence or work-to-residence route for the job itself. Two routes remain. Under the Skilled Migrant Category points system (age 55 or under, 6 points, English IELTS 6.5 overall or equivalent, NZD 6,450) a chef without a degree can reach 6 points only through pay: NZD 52.50 an hour (1.5 times the median wage) gives 3 points and 2 years of skilled work in New Zealand adds 3; NZD 70.00 gives 4 points and NZD 105.00 gives 6. The new Skilled Work Experience pathway, in force since 24 August 2026, covers skill level 1 to 3 jobs, but Chef (with Café/restaurant manager, Baker and Pastrycook) sits on INZ's Amber List, so a chef needs at least 5 years of relevant work experience in New Zealand including 2 years paid at least 1.2 times the median wage (NZD 42.00 an hour), against 1.1 times (NZD 38.50) for occupations not on the list; the wage test is fixed at the rate in force when the skilled work began. INZ plans an AEWV extension of up to 12 months in 2027 for people who need more skilled experience. Family: the chef cannot include family in the AEWV, but a chef in a skill level 1 to 3 job paid at least NZD 28.00 an hour (80 percent of the median wage, since 9 March 2026) can support a partner's work visa with open work rights, and children's visitor or student visas; the dependent child income threshold was NZD 55,844 a year from 10 March 2025 and is updated each year.

Is there a working holiday route?

Yes. Japan and New Zealand have had a working holiday scheme since 1985 with no annual quota for Japanese applicants (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as of 1 November 2026); MOFA notes that since 1 December 2024 New Zealanders may take part twice in Japan, which does not change the rules for Japanese going to New Zealand. INZ's conditions for the Japan Working Holiday Visa: a valid Japanese passport, age 18 to 30, a stay of up to 12 months, at least NZD 4,200 for living costs plus the money for a ticket home, medical insurance may be requested, the holder must enter New Zealand within 12 months of the visa being issued, study or training is limited to 6 months, and the cost is NZD 770 in total. INZ states that 80 percent of applications are decided within 2 weeks and the application is made online. Employment rules for the restaurant: the holder may work in any job as long as it is for an employer under an employment contract or a contract for services, is legal and is not a permanent job; the current INZ page sets no limit on how long the holder may work for one employer (an older 3-month limit per employer appears only in INZ's archived operational manual marked 'not current policy'), and it does not forbid arranging the job before arrival, unlike some European schemes. So a restaurant can employ a Japanese cook on a working holiday full time on a fixed-term agreement for the length of the stay, but it cannot sign a permanent contract, and to keep the cook beyond the 12 months it must be accredited, pass a job check and move the cook to an AEWV before the working holiday visa ends. The working holiday is a way to meet and test a cook, not a permit to employ one for the long term. For completeness, INZ's Specific Purpose Work Visa (from NZD 1,455) covers people coming for a defined event or short secondment and lists no chef or restaurant case, so it is not a normal route for a restaurant hire.

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

Who can help with the visa in New Zealand?

Washoku Agent introduces the chef and helps the chef gather the documents the application asks for. The application itself is made by the employer, or by a licensed adviser where the law requires one. When a case is complex, for example a change of status, a refusal in the past or a family member joining, the law decides who may advise you or apply on your behalf. The employer gets accreditation, applies for a job check and then offers the job. The chef then applies for the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) online. (official source)

• Licensed immigration advisers. Anyone who gives New Zealand immigration advice must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA), unless they are exempt. It is a criminal offence for anyone else to give immigration advice. (official source)
• Exempt people, including New Zealand lawyers. A small number of people are exempt, such as New Zealand lawyers who hold a current practising certificate. Check a lawyer on the New Zealand Law Society register. (official source)
• Not the employer, unless licensed. An employer cannot give immigration advice without a licence, even if it is an accredited employer. The employer can point the chef to public information on the Immigration New Zealand website. (official source)

If an application names an adviser who is not licensed and not exempt, Immigration New Zealand may refuse or decline the application. (official source)

Where do restaurants in New Zealand find Japanese chefs?

New Zealand had about 500 Japanese restaurants in the agriculture ministry's November 2025 count, up 20 since the previous survey, against 2,230 in Australia, and a Japanese community of 20,318 nationals on 1 October 2024 (MOFA; 21,471 a year later), with 215 Japanese company bases in October 2024. The top of the market is new: the Michelin Guide published its first New Zealand selection on 1 July 2026, covering Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown with 110 restaurants (1 two-star, Essence in Queenstown; 14 one-star; 35 Bib Gourmand; 60 selected), and none of the 110 is labelled Japanese; the closest are two 'Asian Contemporary' entries, Koji in Wellington and Hello Beasty in Auckland, and the one-star Mudbrick on Waiheke Island, which the guide describes as blending European, Japanese and Indian influences. Owners post on Seek and Trade Me Jobs, the two sites Immigration New Zealand names as acceptable for the 14-day advert, and in the regional boards of the Restaurant Association's Hospo Jobs Hub; the Japanese-run restaurants we read on 3 November 2026 (Yamato in Rotorua, Kohan in Lake Tekapo, Sakura in Christchurch, Katsura at the Grand Millennium in Auckland) post in English on the same two sites, and the two boards in Japan we checked, careermap.jp and WORLDPOST, carried no New Zealand restaurant job that day. Most 'sushi' postings were for the takeaway chains St Pierre's and Maki Mono at NZD 23.95 to 26 an hour; the ads that named visa sponsorship or a senior title paid NZD 25 to 35 (Yamato) or NZD 52.50 an hour (Kohan).

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 New Zealand?

New Zealand gives you two pools. Sushi hands are not scarce: Seek carried 82 'sushi' jobs on 3 November 2026, most of them at the takeaway chains St Pierre's and Maki Mono at NZD 23.95 to 26 an hour, and the government career site Tahatū puts chef pay at NZD 25 to 37 an hour most commonly (NZD 24 at the bottom, NZD 45 at the top) with 19,000 chefs counted at the 2023 Census. The Restaurant Association's 2025 Remuneration Report gives the market bands owners actually pay: head chef NZD 36.81 an hour nationally (NZD 39.62 in Auckland, NZD 36.90 in Queenstown, NZD 34.39 in Wellington), sous chef NZD 32.11, chef de partie NZD 29.63, commis chef NZD 26.83. What is scarce is Japanese technique at the level the new Michelin Guide now measures: none of the 110 restaurants in the first New Zealand selection is labelled Japanese, Indeed returned 0 postings for the exact phrase 'japanese chef', and the Japanese-run houses that want it print the Accredited Employer Work Visa in the ad (Yamato, Rotorua) or pay NZD 52.50 an hour for a sous chef (Kohan, Lake Tekapo). A chef from Japan needs an AEWV, which runs through employer accreditation, a 14-day advert and a job check at the market rate; work permit rules are covered separately.

Common hiring challenges in New Zealand, 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 New Zealand hire a Japanese chef through Washoku Agent?

Frequently asked questions