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

This guide answers the questions restaurant owners in the Philippines 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 the Philippines?

Packages for Japanese chefs in the Philippines 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 the Philippines 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 the Philippines sponsor a Japanese chef?

An Alien Employment Permit from DOLE's Bureau of Local Employment and a 9(g) pre-arranged employment visa from the Bureau of Immigration. The restaurant publishes the vacancy with the chef's name for 15 calendar days, files the notarised contract and company papers (AEP PHP 6,000 for the first year; 10 working days by rule, 20 at most, longer in practice since the June 2026 centralisation), then petitions the BI (PHP 10,130 for 1 year up to PHP 24,210 for 3 years plus USD 50 a year for the ACR I-Card, 2014 fee table). Japanese nationals enter visa-free for 30 days, extend to 59 days and beyond at the BI, and convert to the 9(g) in the Philippines; a Provisional Work Permit (PHP 4,040) lets the chef cook while the visa is pending, and a Special Work Permit covers a stint of up to 6 months. There is no minimum salary for the permit beyond the regional minimum wage (NCR PHP 755 a day since 26 September 2026), no chef category, and no working holiday agreement between Japan and the Philippines.

• Salary: no threshold for the AEP or the 9(g). The floor is the regional minimum wage, PHP 755 a day for non-agricultural workers in Metro Manila under Wage Order NCR-28 since 26 September 2026 (PHP 718 for small retail, service and manufacturing); the PHP 780 step of the suspended Wage Order NCR-27 is not in force. What Japanese chefs are paid in the Philippines is in the salary section above.
• Chef documents: passport, signed contract, résumé, the BI consolidated application form, a BIR Taxpayer Identification Number, and biometrics at a BI hearing. No recognition of the Japanese cook qualification is needed or available; no language test.
• Employer test: a 15-day published vacancy notice with the chef's name (newspaper until Department Order 248-C takes effect, reported as 11 November 2026, then the DOLE portal), the contract filed within 15 days of signing, the Economic Needs Test, and the BI certification of foreign and Filipino employees. The training-of-Filipinos plan applies only to incentive-registered, public utility and strategic investment employers.
• Fees and time: AEP PHP 6,000 for 1 year plus a per-year fee; 9(g) PHP 10,130 / 17,170 / 24,210 for 1 / 2 / 3 years plus ACR I-Card USD 50 a year; extension PHP 7,060 / 13,100 / 19,140; PWP PHP 4,040; SWP PHP 6,440; annual report PHP 310. AEP 10 working days by rule, 20 at most; 9(g) conversion about 2 to 3 months per JETRO; plan on about 3 to 4 months.
• Length of stay: 9(g) 1, 2 or 3 years, extended for 1 to 3 years at a time without a stated cap; AEP 1 to 3 years, renewed 60 days before expiry; annual report every 1 January to 1 March. Spouse and unmarried children under 21 join as dependants and may not work; permanent residence only through marriage (13(a)) or the SRRV (age 40 and over, deposit USD 15,000 to 50,000).

1. Sign the employment contract (gross monthly pay, hours, days off, housing if offered) and have it notarised; the AEP must be filed within 15 calendar days of signing, so prepare the notice first.
2. Publish the vacancy notice with the position, qualifications, workplace and the chef's name and city for 15 calendar days (newspaper of general circulation until Department Order 248-C takes effect, then the DOLE portal), and have the chef obtain a BIR TIN.
3. File the AEP with the Bureau of Local Employment in Manila with the contract, SEC or DTI registration, business permit, passport copy and proof of the notice; the order of payment (PHP 6,000 for 1 year plus the per-year fee) is issued after evaluation; expect 10 to 20 working days by rule and longer in practice.
4. The chef enters visa-free (30 days, return ticket), extends at the BI if needed (visa waiver to 59 days PHP 3,030, then PHP 4,400 a month plus a USD 50 tourist card), and the restaurant files the 9(g) conversion at the BI (PHP 10,130 for 1 year plus USD 50, hearing and biometrics) together with a Provisional Work Permit (PHP 4,040) so the chef can start.
5. After approval, implement the visa in the passport, collect the ACR I-Card, register the chef with SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG and in payroll (13th month pay by 24 December), file the annual report each 1 January to 1 March, and start the AEP renewal 60 days before expiry together with the 9(g) extension.

Which permit lets a Philippine restaurant hire a Japanese chef?

Two documents, from two agencies. The first is the Alien Employment Permit (AEP) from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which any foreign national needs before taking a job in the Philippines unless an exemption applies (Labor Code article 40; DOLE Department Order No. 248, series of 2025, in force since 10 February 2025, as amended by Department Orders 248-A of 2025, 248-B of 2026 and 248-C of 2026). The second is the 9(g) pre-arranged employment visa, commercial, from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), which is the residence and work visa itself; the BI issues it for 1, 2 or 3 years and extends it for 1, 2 or 3 years at a time. The Philippines has no chef visa and no special cook category: a sushi chef, a head chef and a kitchen manager all go through the same AEP plus 9(g) route, and there is no shortage list and no quota for cooks. Two short permits exist for work before the visa is ready. The Special Work Permit, commercial (SWP) is for a foreign national who will work for 3 to 6 months; the BI page describes it as gainful employment for three to six months, and JETRO states it is granted for 3 months and extended once. The Provisional Work Permit (PWP) is issued while an application for the 9(g) visa is pending, so the chef can start in the kitchen once the AEP and 9(g) files are in. Since 9 June 2026 every AEP, new or renewal, is filed with and decided by the DOLE central office through the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) in Manila; the regional offices no longer accept them (Department Order 248-B and Administrative Order 199, series of 2026). A 9(g) visa does not lead to permanent residence by itself; the routes to settle are marriage to a Filipino citizen (13(a) visa) or the retiree visa (SRRV), explained in the last answer.

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

The chef shows a passport, the signed employment contract, a résumé and the documents on the BI checklist for the 9(g) conversion (the BI form for non-immigrant visas, SWP and PWP, and a form on the applicant's children if any); the DOLE side needs the notarised employment contract, a passport copy and, where the position is a regulated profession, a licence, which cooking is not. No Philippine authority recognises or assesses a Japanese cook qualification: cooking is not a regulated profession in the Philippines, there is no licensing body for cooks that a foreign national must pass, and no official page sets a minimum training or years of experience for a cook's AEP. In practice the DOLE evaluator checks that the person is competent, able and willing for the job, and the Labor Code lets DOLE issue the permit only after a determination of the non-availability of a person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing for the position (article 40). That is the labour market test, and under the 2025 rules it is done by publishing the vacancy and the foreign national's name for 15 calendar days before filing (see the next answer). The chef must also obtain a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) before the permits are released (BIR Revenue Memorandum Order No. 28-2019). Salary rule: there is no minimum salary for an AEP or a 9(g) visa, and no official page sets a salary threshold for a cook. The floor is the regional minimum wage: in Metro Manila (National Capital Region) PHP 755 a day for non-agricultural workers and PHP 718 a day for small retail, service and manufacturing establishments since 26 September 2026 under Wage Order No. NCR-28, up from PHP 695 and PHP 658 under Wage Order NCR-26 (18 July 2025). An earlier Wage Order NCR-27 (PHP 755 from 25 July 2026 and PHP 780 from 20 January 2027) is suspended by court injunctions and awaits final decisions of the Pasig and Navotas regional trial courts, so the PHP 780 step is not in force and may never be. The official pages give no monthly equivalent. What Japanese chefs are paid in the Philippines is in the salary section above. No permit tests the chef's English or Filipino; Department Order 248-C adds that foreign applicants may be required to attend an orientation on Philippine history and cultural diversity.

What does the restaurant have to show?

The restaurant is the petitioner for both documents. For the AEP it files with the BLE a signed and notarised employment contract (filed within 15 calendar days of signing), its SEC or DTI registration, the business permit, a passport copy of the chef, proof of the labour market test and the AEP fee. The labour market test under Department Order 248 of 2025 is a published vacancy notice that names the employer, the position, the qualifications, the workplace, and the foreign national's name and city of residence; under Department Order 248-A (in force 27 August 2025) publication in a newspaper of general circulation was the only mandatory platform, with PhilJobNet and the local Public Employment Service Office encouraged but optional; the AEP application is filed 15 calendar days after publication and the notice stays valid for 45 days. Department Order 248-C, signed on 27 October 2026 and taking effect 15 days after its newspaper publication (reported as 11 November 2026), ends the paid broadsheet notice: the labour market test notice is published on the DOLE official portal or public repository, or filed with the University of the Philippines Law Center, at no cost to the applicant. The same order cuts the AEP decision time from 15 to 10 working days with one 10-day extension (20 working days at most), stops collecting any fee at submission (the order of payment is issued only after technical evaluation and approval), lets the restaurant's own HR staff file without an accredited agent, and drops four third-party permits from the filing list. DOLE may also apply an Economic Needs Test and deny a permit on that basis. The Understudy Training Program or Skills Development Program (training at least two Filipino employees per foreign national, with progress reports) applies only to employers registered under the Foreign Investments Act with fiscal incentives, public utilities, and strategic investment sectors; a restaurant that is none of these is outside it. The AEP runs for 1 to 3 years, following the contract, and renewals are filed at least 60 days before expiry; the employer and the chef must report material changes within 10 calendar days, and prohibited acts cost up to PHP 10,000 per act plus a 5-to-10-year bar from applying. For the 9(g) the restaurant submits a notarised certification of the number of its foreign and Filipino employees, the BI checklist documents and the fee, and the chef attends a BI hearing and biometrics. After the chef starts, the restaurant registers the chef with the Social Security System (SSS), PhilHealth and the Pag-IBIG Fund like any Filipino employee, because the Japan-Philippines social security agreement in force since 1 August 2018 only keeps a worker in the Japanese system when a Japanese employer seconds the worker; a chef hired locally pays into SSS.

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

Fees, DOLE: the AEP application fee was cut from PHP 10,000 to PHP 6,000 for a 1-year permit by Department Order 248 of 2025, with a fee for each additional year of validity and, until Department Order 248-C takes effect, the cost of the newspaper notice; the exact per-year and certificate amounts could not be verified on an official page at the time of writing (the DOLE FAQ of June 2026 is behind a bot check). Fees, BI (the BI page carries the note that fees were last updated on 6 March 2014 and may change): conversion to 9(g) commercial for a company outside the top 1,000 corporations PHP 10,130 for 1 year, PHP 17,170 for 2 years and PHP 24,210 for 3 years, plus the ACR I-Card at USD 50 per year of validity; extension PHP 7,060, PHP 13,100 and PHP 19,140 plus the card; Provisional Work Permit PHP 4,040 in total; Special Work Permit PHP 6,440 plus USD 50 for the card; annual report PHP 310. Time: Department Order 248-C sets 10 working days for the AEP decision, 20 at most, counted from a complete file, but trade reports since the June 2026 centralisation describe long waits for new and renewal permits, so plan for more. The BI gives no processing time for the 9(g); JETRO's guide for Japanese companies (updated August 2025) states about 2 to 3 months for the conversion, which needs a hearing. Entry: Japanese nationals enter the Philippines without a visa for up to 30 days under Executive Order No. 408 (listed by the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo), with a return or onward ticket, and the whole process can be done in the country: the BI's visa waiver extends the first 30 days to 59 days (PHP 3,030 in 2014 fees), further extensions beyond 59 days cost PHP 4,400 for 1 month or PHP 4,900 for 2 months for an adult plus a tourist ACR I-Card at USD 50, and the 9(g) application is filed at the BI as a conversion from visitor status. JETRO states that the Philippine Embassy in Japan does not accept 9(g) applications and that the chef enters as a visitor and converts in Manila. The chef may not work on visitor status: the restaurant files the AEP and 9(g) first and asks for a Provisional Work Permit so the chef can start while the visa is pending, or a Special Work Permit for a short assignment of up to 6 months. Stay: the 9(g) is issued for 1, 2 or 3 years and extended for 1, 2 or 3 years at a time; the AEP follows the contract for 1 to 3 years and is renewed; neither carries a stated maximum number of renewals. Every 9(g) holder registers for an ACR I-Card and files the annual report at the BI between 1 January and 1 March each year (PHP 310; late fee PHP 200 a month up to PHP 2,000 plus a PHP 1,510 motion fee under Operations Order 2025-007). Family: the spouse and unmarried children under 21 are included in the 9(g) as dependants (BI fee PHP 8,120 a year for a spouse, PHP 7,370 to 7,870 for a child, plus USD 50 per card year); a dependant may not work, and a spouse who wants a job needs an AEP and a 9(g) of their own. Permanent residence: the 9(g) does not convert into permanent residence after a number of years. A chef married to a Filipino citizen can apply for the 13(a) immigrant visa by marriage (probationary first, PHP 8,620 plus the card in 2014 fees). A chef aged 40 or over can take the Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV) from the Philippine Retirement Authority under the rules in force since 1 September 2025: a bank deposit of USD 15,000 with a pension or USD 30,000 without at age 50 and over, USD 25,000 or USD 50,000 at 40 to 49, and an application fee of USD 1,500; whether an SRRV holder may work for a restaurant could not be verified on an official page at the time of writing.

Is there a working holiday route?

No. Japan has working holiday agreements with 33 countries and regions as of 1 November 2026 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan), and the Philippines is not one of them, so a Philippine restaurant cannot take a Japanese cook for a year on a holiday visa. There is also no youth mobility, trainee or seasonal scheme between the two countries that lets a Japanese national work in a Philippine kitchen without an AEP. The only short routes are the Special Work Permit, commercial, which the BI issues to a foreign national who will engage in gainful employment for 3 to 6 months (PHP 6,440 plus the ACR I-Card at USD 50 in 2014 fees, 3 months extended once per JETRO), and the Provisional Work Permit while a 9(g) is pending (PHP 4,040). Both are applied for from visitor status in the Philippines, both need the petitioning restaurant's documents, and the BI has tightened both since 2018 by checking the company's registration, address and business licence and by requiring at least 20 days of remaining visitor validity. A Japanese cook who comes on the 30-day visa-free entry can therefore try out a kitchen only after a Special Work Permit is approved, not on arrival. For a long stay the restaurant should decide early: an SWP cannot be extended beyond 6 months, and a cook who stays on must move to the AEP plus 9(g). The chef also keeps the tourist clock in mind: a visitor who stays beyond 59 days needs a BI extension and a tourist ACR I-Card, and overstaying costs PHP 500 a month in fines.

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

Who can help with the visa in the Philippines?

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. Visa applications are filed with the Bureau of Immigration by the petitioner, the applicant, or a duly authorized BI-accredited liaison officer. Whoever files is responsible for making sure the papers are complete and genuine. (official source)

• The petitioning employer. In the Philippines, the work visa for a foreign employee (pre-arranged employment, 9(g)) is linked to a petitioning company. Bureau of Immigration (BI) filings for this visa refer to papers from the petitioning company. (official source)
• BI-accredited law offices, consultancies and liaison officers. Representatives who deal with the BI for clients are accredited by the BI Accreditation Unit (BIAU). Law offices, corporations or consultancies, travel agencies and their liaison officers can apply for accreditation, and accredited liaison officers carry a BI accreditation ID. (official source)
• Lawyers (members of the Philippine Bar). For legal advice, use a lawyer on the Roll of Attorneys kept by the Supreme Court's Office of the Bar Confidant. The Supreme Court publishes a Lawyers List with each lawyer's roll number. (official source)

The Bureau of Immigration reminds the public never to transact with fixers or unauthorized agents, and says all legitimate immigration services are available through its online e-services portal or its offices. (official source)

Where do restaurants in the Philippines find Japanese chefs?

The Philippines had about 940 Japanese restaurants in the agriculture ministry's November 2025 count, up 180 since the previous survey, against a small Japanese community: 12,648 Japanese nationals lived in the country in October 2024 (MOFA). The Michelin Guide arrived with its first Manila and Environs and Cebu selection on 30 October 2025, 108 establishments with one two-star (Helm) and eight one-star restaurants, none of them Japanese; the guide lists 7 restaurants under Japanese cuisine, one Bib Gourmand (The Underbelly, a ramen house in Makati) and six Selected (Yamazato in Pasay, Ramen Ron, Umu and Kei in Makati and Taguig, Soba Kamakura in Mandaue and DIP Nikkei in Lapu-Lapu, Cebu). Most of the postings we saw on 3 November 2026 were for sushi cooks and Japanese-section chefs de partie at restaurant groups, hotels and resorts: Vikings, The Moment Group, Okada Manila, Newport World Resorts, Shangri-La Boracay. Owners post on JobStreet and Indeed, the government portal PhilJobNet carries a few, and the Japan-side route exists too: the Tokyo-listed owner of Okada Manila recruits a sushi chef in Japan on a yen salary as a regular employee and seconds the chef to Manila.

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 the Philippines?

The Philippines gives you a deep local pool at low cost and a thin Japanese one. Filipino sushi cooks are plentiful: Indeed carried 13 'sushi chef' postings and JobStreet hundreds of chef and cook jobs on 3 November 2026, the restaurant groups hire Japanese-section chefs de partie at PHP 23,000 to 25,000 a month and sushi cooks at PHP 15,000 to 18,000, and the statistics office puts the average monthly wage of a full-time worker in the 2024 Occupational Wages Survey at PHP 21,544 nationally and PHP 29,310 in Metro Manila; the survey's figure for cooks could not be verified on an official page at the time of writing because the PSA site blocks automated access. What is scarce is a chef from Japan: the exact phrase 'japanese chef' returned 1 job on JobStreet and 4 on Indeed, Michelin's first Philippine selection has no Japanese restaurant with a star, and the posts that want a chef from Japan price the role on another scale: PHP 100,000 a month for a Japanese-speaking chef consultant on the government job bank (PhilJobNet, Quezon City) and JPY 4 to 6.5 million a year for Okada Manila's sushi chef, recruited in Japan by the resort's Tokyo-listed owner, against PHP 25,000 to 50,000 for a Japanese chef hired locally by a Palawan resort. That is two to four times the local figure, which tells you where the market for a chef from Japan starts. A chef from Japan needs an Alien Employment Permit and a 9(g) visa; work permit rules are covered separately.

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

Frequently asked questions