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

This guide answers the questions restaurant owners in Spain 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 Spain?

Packages for Japanese chefs in Spain 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 Spain 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 Spain sponsor a Japanese chef?

A residence and employee work authorisation applied for by the restaurant at the Oficina de Extranjería under the 2024 Immigration Regulation (in force since 20 May 2025), followed by a national visa collected at the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo. Spain has no chef visa and cooks are not on the shortage catalogue, so the restaurant proves that it could not fill the post locally through an 8-day Empléate vacancy, signs a contract at or above the provincial hospitality agreement and the minimum wage (EUR 1,221 a month in 14 payments in 2026), and pays an employer fee of EUR 203.84 or EUR 407.71. The first permit runs up to 1 year, the renewal 4 years. A highly qualified permit through the UGE exists for salaries at or above EUR 41,356.36 but rarely fits a cook. Japanese aged 18 to 30 can also work for a year on a working holiday visa (700 a year on Japan's foreign ministry table); the agreement does not address a job arranged in advance, so the work must stay incidental to the holiday.

• Salary: no fixed floor for the general route, but the contract must match the collective agreement and the minimum wage of EUR 40.70 a day, EUR 1,221 a month and EUR 17,094 a year in 2026 (Real Decreto 126/2026); Madrid's 2025 tables put a cook at EUR 1,160.37 to 1,283.83 base a month plus EUR 191.22 plus convenio, Barcelona's 2026 table at EUR 1,607.25 to 1,803.05; the employer adds about 30.65 percent in contributions. The highly qualified route needs EUR 41,356.36 a year.
• Chef documents: passport, criminal record certificates for the last 5 years, medical certificate, and nothing more for the profession, because cooking is not regulated in Spain and no language test applies; the chef applies for the visa in person in Tokyo within 1 month of the grant and collects it within 1 month of the decision.
• Employer test: form EX-03, the signed contract, 3 years of tax returns or the VILE, registration with Social Security, and proof that the situación nacional de empleo allows the hire, normally the Empléate vacancy managed for 8 days by the public employment service plus its certificate within 3 days; the office decides in 3 months and silence means refusal.
• Fees and time: EUR 10.94 plus EUR 203.84 or EUR 407.71 for the authorisation, a visa equivalent to EUR 80, TIE EUR 16.08; 3 months for the authorisation, 1 month for the embassy, entry within the 90-day visa, Social Security registration within 3 months of entry and the TIE within 1 month after that; plan on 4 to 6 months.
• Length of stay: up to 1 year, then a 4-year renewal for any job; long-term residence after 5 years of continuous residence; nationality after 10 years with DELE A2, the CCSE test and renunciation of Japanese nationality. The spouse can join from the first renewal and may work without a separate permit.

1. Decide the route: the residence and employee work authorisation for almost every cook; the UGE highly qualified permit only for a head chef with a degree or 3 years of experience and pay at or above EUR 41,356.36; the seasonal permit for a resort season of up to 9 months.
2. Post the vacancy on Empléate and with the regional public employment service so that the 8-day period and the 3-day certificate of insufficient candidates are ready, and check the current quarter's Catálogo de Ocupaciones de Difícil Cobertura in the BOE in case cooks appear.
3. Sign the contract with gross pay at or above the provincial hospitality agreement and the minimum wage, hours and workplace address, dated to take effect with the authorisation; file form EX-03 through Mercurio with the company documents and 3 years of tax returns or the VILE; pay the 790-062 fee (EUR 203.84 or EUR 407.71) within 10 working days and make sure the chef pays the 790-052 fee (EUR 10.94).
4. When the grant is notified, the chef books an appointment with the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo (emb.tokio.sc@maec.es) and applies within 1 month with passport, criminal record and medical certificates, the authorisation and the stamped contract, paying the fee equivalent to EUR 80; the embassy decides in 1 month and the chef collects the visa within 1 month and enters Spain inside the 90-day validity.
5. After arrival, register the chef with Social Security before the first shift and within 3 months of entry, book the police appointment for the TIE within 1 month of that registration (EUR 16.08), register the address at the town hall, and diarise the renewal for the 2 months before the 1-year permit expires (EUR 16.40 plus EUR 81.54), which opens the 4-year permit and the right to bring a spouse.

Which permit lets a Spanish restaurant hire a Japanese chef?

For a chef coming from Japan to work for more than 90 days, the standard permit is the autorización inicial de residencia temporal y trabajo por cuenta ajena, the initial residence and employee work authorisation under the Immigration Act (Ley Orgánica 4/2000, articles 36, 38 and 40) and its Regulation approved by Real Decreto 1155/2024 (articles 72 to 79), which has been in force since 20 May 2025. Spain has no chef visa and no special cook category: the restaurant applies as an ordinary employer. The restaurant, not the chef, files the application, at the Oficina de Extranjería of the province where the kitchen is, online through the Mercurio platform of the Ministry of Territorial Policy. The chef must be outside Spain or at least not in Spain irregularly; once the authorisation is granted the chef collects a national visa at the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo and enters Spain with it. A visa-free visit does not replace this step. The first authorisation lasts for the length of the job up to a maximum of 1 year (article 73 paragraph 4 of the Regulation); the renewal is granted for 4 years and then allows any job anywhere in Spain, employed or self-employed (article 81 paragraph 1). Two other routes exist on paper. The highly qualified professional permit under Ley 14/2013 (article 71), handled by the Unidad de Grandes Empresas (UGE), needs a university level qualification or at least 3 years of experience and a salary at a reference threshold: the Tarjeta azul-UE threshold is 1.4 times the average gross annual wage of the INE wage survey (Orden PJC/44/2026), which the UGE put at EUR 41,356.36 in June 2026. A head chef with a degree from a Japanese culinary school and a salary at that level could in theory apply, decided in 20 days with positive silence (article 76 paragraph 1), but the UGE's own salary criteria for the national permit could not be read on an official page at the time of writing, so treat it as an exception, not the plan. The third is the working holiday visa under the 2017 Japan-Spain agreement, for Japanese aged 18 to 30, up to 1 year, described below. Collective hiring in origin (GECCO, Orden ISM/1547/2025) requires offers of at least 10 jobs and is built for agriculture and seasonal work, so it is not a tool for one chef.

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

The chef shows a valid passport, a criminal record certificate from Japan and from any country lived in during the last 5 years, a medical certificate and, if the profession required it, proof of the legally required professional qualification. Cooking is not a regulated profession in Spain, so no homologación of a Japanese cook licence is required to work; the national recognition portal states that recognition of qualifications applies only to regulated professions (REGPROF). No Spanish language test is attached to the work authorisation, the visa or the working holiday visa. Salary rule: there is no fixed salary floor for the general route beyond Spanish labour law, but the contract must respect the applicable collective agreement and the statutory minimum wage, and if the contract is part time the pay must still reach the full-time minimum wage in annual terms (information sheet 12 of the Ministry of Inclusion). The minimum wage for 2026 is EUR 40.70 a day or EUR 1,221 a month, EUR 17,094 a year (Real Decreto 126/2026 of 18 February, effective 1 January to 31 December 2026); the monthly figure assumes 14 payments a year, which is how Spanish hospitality agreements pay. No 2027 figure has been published. In practice the Oficina de Extranjería compares the offer with the provincial hospitality agreement: in Madrid the 2025 tables (still applied in 2026 while a new agreement is negotiated) set a cook (cocinero, level III) at EUR 1,283.83 a month in a class A restaurant, EUR 1,250.91 in class B and EUR 1,160.37 in class C, plus a monthly plus convenio of EUR 191.22 for 11 months and a meal allowance of EUR 57.82, all in 14 payments; in Barcelona the 2025 to 2028 Catalonia agreement (DOGC 9630, 23 March 2026) sets a cook (level III) at EUR 1,803.05 a month in a group A establishment and EUR 1,735.87 in group B for 2026, with 4 percent rises in 2027 and 3 percent in 2028. The employer fee for the work authorisation doubles if the pay reaches twice the minimum wage (EUR 34,188 a year in 2026). For the highly qualified route the salary must reach the UGE threshold (EUR 41,356.36 general, EUR 33,085.09 reduced for Tarjeta azul-UE in June 2026).

What does the restaurant have to show?

Three things. First, that the situación nacional de empleo allows the hire (article 74 and 75 of the Regulation). It does if the occupation is on the quarterly Catálogo de Ocupaciones de Difícil Cobertura of the public employment service (SEPE), or if the restaurant proves to the Oficina de Extranjería that it could not fill the post from the local labour market: it posts the vacancy on the Empléate portal and with the regional public employment service, which manages the offer for 8 days and then issues a certificate of insufficient candidates within 3 days (article 75 paragraph 2), and the office also weighs the urgency the restaurant can prove. Cooks are not on the catalogue: the third quarter 2026 list (Resolución of 3 August 2026, BOE 2 September 2026) contains only ship's cooks (cocineros de barco) and ship's waiters among hospitality jobs, together with marine trades, sports professionals and some construction trades; the second quarter 2026 list was never published, and no fourth quarter 2026 list had appeared in the BOE at the time of writing. The exceptions in article 40 of the Immigration Act (reunited family members, renewals, refugees, children of Spaniards and others) do not cover a cook recruited abroad, so a Madrid or Barcelona restaurant should expect to run the Empléate test. Second, a signed employment contract that guarantees continuous work for the whole authorisation, dated to take effect when the authorisation does, with conditions that match the law and the collective agreement. Third, the restaurant's own standing: registered with Social Security and up to date with tax and Social Security, with means to pay the chef, shown with the last 3 years of income tax, VAT or corporate tax returns or the company's Social Security life record (VILE), plus a short description of the job. A sole trader must also show income after the chef's salary of at least 50 percent of the minimum wage if alone, 100 percent for a family of two, plus 25 percent per further member. The application is form EX-03 signed by the company. Fees fall due on filing and must be paid within 10 working days: form 790 code 052 (EUR 10.94, paid by the worker; the Tokyo embassy fee sheet lists it at JPY 1,995) and form 790 code 062 for the work authorisation of 6 months or more, paid by the employer: EUR 203.84 if the pay is below twice the minimum wage, EUR 407.71 if it is equal or higher (Orden PJC/617/2025, in force 16 June 2025). After the chef starts, the restaurant registers the chef with Social Security (alta) within 3 months of entry and pays the employer contributions: 23.60 percent for common contingencies, 0.75 percent for the intergenerational equity mechanism (MEI), 5.50 percent unemployment on an open-ended contract, 0.20 percent wage guarantee fund and 0.60 percent training, about 30.65 percent of gross pay before the work accident premium, on a 2026 contribution base between EUR 1,424.40 and EUR 5,101.20 a month (Real Decreto-ley 3/2026 and Orden PJC/297/2026). The worker pays 4.70 plus 0.15 plus 1.55 plus 0.10 percent.

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

Fees: EUR 10.94 for the residence part and EUR 203.84 or EUR 407.71 for the work part of the initial authorisation; national visa at the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo equivalent to EUR 80, listed on the embassy fee sheet as JPY 16,409; the foreigner identity card (TIE) EUR 16.08 on first issue and EUR 19.30 on renewal (form 790 code 012); renewal of the residence and work authorisation EUR 16.40 plus EUR 81.54 for the work part; long-term residence EUR 21.87. Time: the Oficina de Extranjería must decide within 3 months of the application entering its register, and silence after 3 months counts as refusal (article 77 paragraph 6). The chef then has 1 month from the notification to the employer to apply in person for the visa at the embassy in Tokyo, by appointment requested from emb.tokio.sc@maec.es; the embassy decides within 1 month, which may be extended if it asks for an interview or more documents; the chef collects the visa within 1 month of the decision or the file is closed. For a one-year contract the visa is valid for 90 days: the chef must enter Spain in that window, the restaurant must register the chef with Social Security within 3 months of entry, and the chef applies in person for the TIE at the police within 1 month of that registration. Plan on about 4 to 6 months from filing to the first shift. The 20-day highly qualified route is faster but rarely fits a cook. Stay: the first authorisation runs up to 1 year; the renewal must be requested in the 2 months before it expires and is deemed granted if the office is silent for 3 months (article 80); it is given for 4 years and frees the chef to work for any employer in any sector or on a self-employed basis. After 5 years of continuous legal residence the chef can apply for long-term residence (residencia de larga duración, article 183 of the Regulation), with absences of up to 6 consecutive months allowed as long as they total no more than 10 months in the 5 years, or 18 months for work reasons; the long-term card is renewed every 5 years. Spanish nationality needs 10 years of legal, continuous residence immediately before the application (Código Civil article 22), passing the Instituto Cervantes DELE Spanish exam at level A2 or higher and the CCSE civics test (Real Decreto 1004/2015, article 6), and a declaration renouncing the previous nationality (article 23), which matters for a Japanese chef because Japan is not among the countries exempt from that renunciation. Family: the chef can apply to bring a spouse or registered partner and children under 18 by reagrupación familiar once the chef has lived in Spain for 1 year and has applied for a renewal of at least another year, which in practice means from the first renewal; the chef must show income of 150 percent of the IPREM for two people plus 50 percent per further member, adequate housing and health cover, and the office decides within 2 months. The reunited spouse's residence permit allows work as an employee or self-employed anywhere in Spain without a further permit (article 65 paragraph 2), and after 1 year the spouse can obtain an independent permit (article 69).

Is there a working holiday route?

Yes. Japan and Spain signed the Acuerdo relativo al Programa de vacaciones y actividades laborales esporádicas in Tokyo on 5 April 2017, applied provisionally since 1 July 2017 (BOE 11 May 2017). Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists Spain with a start year of 2017 and an annual quota of 700 visas as of 1 November 2026; the Embassy of Japan in Spain describes a quota of 500 for Spaniards going the other way, so the two directions differ. Conditions in the agreement: Japanese nationals aged 18 to 30 inclusive at the time of application, a stay of up to 1 year from entry, the main purpose must be a holiday, work is allowed only as needed to top up travel funds, the visa is free, it is granted once in a lifetime and the holder may not bring dependants unless they hold their own visa. The agreement does not set a limit on the number of months with one employer and does not address a job arranged in advance, and no Spanish official page we read adds such a limit, so the only legal test is that work stays incidental to the holiday. The Spanish Embassy in Tokyo adds its own conditions: the applicant must have lived in Japan for at least 3 months (a residence certificate under 90 days old), show funds of at least EUR 2,000 for the first months plus a return ticket or the money for one, a medical certificate on the embassy form, a criminal record certificate, a travel plan in Spanish or English, and a sworn declaration; the chef applies in person twice, for filing and collection, not earlier than 90 days before the planned entry, and the embassy states that issue takes about 8 weeks. The NIE (foreigner identity number) is applied for at the same time with form EX-15 and the 790-012 fee. So a restaurant can employ a Japanese cook who holds a working holiday visa, full time and for the whole year if the cook chooses, but it cannot sponsor someone in Japan under this visa, and it should not promise a contract before the visa is issued. To keep the cook after the year the restaurant must obtain a residence and work authorisation; because the working holiday holder is legally in Spain, the employer's application can be filed while the cook is in the country, but no official page states whether the cook may wait in Spain for the visa step, so confirm this with the Oficina de Extranjería before the year ends. Japanese nationals enter Spain without a visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180 days under Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, which lets a candidate visit the kitchen for a trial week, but any paid work needs one of the permits above.

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

Who can help with the visa in Spain?

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 applies for the initial residence and work authorisation. If it is granted, the worker has one month from the notice to the employer to apply for the visa in person at the Spanish consulate where they live. (official source)

• The employer, or a representative with an accredited power of attorney. The initial residence and work authorisation is requested by the employer, personally or through a person who holds the company's legal representation. Under the Immigration Regulation, any person or company may file on someone's behalf only when the representation is proven by a notarial power of attorney or by an apud acta power in the electronic register of powers. (official source)
• Professionals under government filing agreements, and registered immigration collaborators. Representation also counts when professionals file electronically under a government agreement for representing third parties (convenio), or when the filer is in the Electronic Register of Immigration Collaborators. That register is open to the main trade unions and to non-profit bodies working on migration (Order ISM/164/2026). (official source)

Where do restaurants in Spain find Japanese chefs?

Spain had about 810 Japanese restaurants in the agriculture ministry's November 2025 count, up 110 since the previous survey, against 3,390 in France, 2,160 in Italy, 1,820 in the United Kingdom and 1,510 in Germany, and a small Japanese community: 9,733 Japanese nationals lived in Spain in October 2025 (MOFA basic data page, updated 6 August 2026). The top of the market is strong for its size: the Michelin Guide lists 42 restaurants under Japanese cuisine in Spain, nine with one star (Yugo The Bunker, Sen Omakase and Toki in Madrid, Koy Shunka and Suto in Barcelona, Kaido Sushi Bar in Valencia, Nintai in Marbella, Kiro Sushi in Logroño and Omakase by Walt in Ibiza) and two Bib Gourmand (Iwasaki in Getxo and IZAKAYA Tasca Japonesa in Castelló de la Plana), with 12 of the 42 in the city of Madrid. Most of the postings we saw on 3 November 2026 were for sushi cooks at restaurant groups, resort hotels and sushi producers. Owners post on InfoJobs and Indeed, hotels and resorts on Turijobs, and the Japanese-run ramen shops, izakayas and sushi bars in Madrid and Barcelona post in Japanese on the ESJAPÓN notice board and the Spain board, usually asking for a visa that already allows work and often welcoming working holiday holders, while the few that recruit from Japan use WORLDPOST and offer visa support.

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 Spain?

Spain gives you two pools. Sushi cooks are not scarce at the line level: InfoJobs carried 38 'sushi' offers and Indeed 75 on 3 November 2026, Turijobs listed 147 open cook posts, and the national statistics office puts the average gross pay of restaurant and shop service workers, the occupation group that holds cooks, at EUR 18,918.65 a year in 2024 (EAES 2024, published 28 May 2026), with the hospitality sector as a whole at EUR 17,653.42 and all workers at EUR 29,540.26. What is scarce is Japanese technique: the exact phrase 'chef japonés' returned nothing on Indeed, only 42 restaurants in the whole country are in the Michelin Guide under Japanese cuisine, and the Japanese-run houses that want it recruit in Japanese on ESJAPÓN and the Spain board, mostly from people who already hold a working holiday or other visa, with pay where printed around EUR 18,600 to 21,000 gross a year for a Madrid ramen kitchen. That sits between the Madrid collective agreement's cook base (EUR 1,160.37 to 1,283.83 a month in 14 payments plus EUR 191.22 plus convenio in the 2025 tables) and the Barcelona 2026 table (EUR 1,607.25 to 1,803.05), and tells you where the market for a chef from Japan really starts. A chef from Japan needs a residence and work authorisation applied for by the restaurant, which includes a labour market test because cooks are not on the shortage catalogue; work permit rules are covered separately.

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

Frequently asked questions