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

This guide answers the questions restaurant owners in Vietnam 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 2026-10-31.

How much do Japanese chefs earn in Vietnam?

Based on the positions Washoku Agent has handled in Vietnam, advertised annual packages for Japanese chefs typically fall between JPY 5 and 6 million when converted, with the highest advertised packages reaching around JPY 6 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 Vietnam?

The demand we see in Vietnam is concentrated in a few role types and concepts. The most common roles are head chef and sous chef positions, and the most common concepts are sushi, omakase 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 Vietnam 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 Vietnam sponsor a Japanese chef?

A work permit issued by the provincial People's Committee under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP (replaced by Decree 393/2026/ND-CP from 5 December 2026), held with an LD2 visa and an LD2 temporary residence card. A chef usually qualifies as a technical worker with 3 years of relevant experience, or 1 year of training plus 2 years. Any registered restaurant can apply after advertising the job to Vietnamese workers for 5 days; there is no capital test and no salary condition for the permit. Japan has no working holiday agreement with Vietnam.

• Salary: the work permit has no salary condition. What Japanese chefs are paid in Vietnam is in the salary section above.
• Chef documents: passport, health certificate (within 12 months), criminal record certificate (within 6 months), two photos, letters from past employers abroad confirming the years of experience, plus a training certificate for the 1-year-training route; foreign documents legalised and translated into Vietnamese. No language test.
• Employer test: a job advert to Vietnamese workers at least 5 days before filing, then one combined demand report and permit application; no capital, headcount or ratio rule. Social insurance applies to contracts of 12 months or more.
• Fees and time: decision within 10 working days of a complete file; permit fee set by each province (check the current amount for Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City with the province); visa USD 25 single entry; temporary residence card USD 145 for up to 2 years (Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC).
• Length of stay: permit up to 2 years, one extension of up to 2 years, then a new permit; LD visa and LD temporary residence card up to 2 years each. The 45-day visa exemption for Japanese citizens does not allow work.

1. Check the chef's experience letters from past employers (3 years or more for the technical worker route, 5 years or more for the expert route from 5 December 2026) and have them, the training certificate and the Japanese criminal record certificate legalised and translated into Vietnamese.
2. The restaurant advertises the position to Vietnamese workers at least 5 days (5 working days from 5 December 2026) before filing, on the national job exchange, through an employment service, in the media or on its own website.
3. File Form 03 (demand report and permit request) with the chef's documents 10 to 60 days before the start date, at the provincial Public Administration Service Centre or online on the National Public Service Portal; the authority decides within 10 working days.
4. Sign a written labour contract before the start date, then apply to the Immigration Department for the LD2 visa (USD 25 single entry under Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC) and, after arrival, the LD2 temporary residence card (USD 145 for up to 2 years); enrol the chef in social insurance if the contract is 12 months or longer.
5. Before the permit expires, file the one-time extension (from 5 December 2026: 10 working days to 90 days before expiry, decided in 5 working days); after that extension, apply for a new permit to keep the chef.

Which permit lets a Vietnamese restaurant sponsor a Japanese chef?

A work permit (giay phep lao dong) issued under Decree 219/2025/ND-CP of 7 August 2025, held together with an LD2 work visa and, after arrival, an LD2 temporary residence card. Vietnam has no chef-specific visa. Decree 219 replaced the foreign-worker rules of Decrees 152/2020 and 70/2023 on the day it was signed. A new Decree 393/2026/ND-CP, signed on 20 October 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on 30 October 2026, replaces Decree 219 from 5 December 2026; it keeps the main rules described here. A chef is filed in one of the four job positions the decree defines, normally 'technical worker' (lao dong ky thuat): at least 1 year of training plus at least 2 years of relevant experience, or at least 3 years of relevant experience. The 'expert' position needs a university degree plus 2 years of experience; from 5 December 2026 Decree 393 adds an expert route of at least 5 years of relevant experience with no degree, which fits many head chefs. The provincial People's Committee issues the permit and may delegate it; in Hanoi the Department of Home Affairs handles it, fully online since 20 October 2025. A Japanese owner or capital contributor holding at least VND 3 billion of a limited liability company is not subject to a work permit; the employer only notifies the authority at least 3 working days before the start.

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

The application under Decree 219 (Article 18) contains: a health certificate from a qualified medical facility issued within 12 months (Decree 393 also accepts one issued abroad), the passport, a criminal record certificate issued within 6 months (Japanese or Vietnamese), two 4 x 6 cm colour photos, and proof of the job position. For a technical worker that proof is a training certificate of at least 1 year plus a letter from the chef's employer abroad confirming the years of experience, or that employer letter alone for the 3-year route; a chef who has worked in Vietnam before can use the earlier permit instead. Foreign documents other than the passport must be consularly legalised, unless a treaty or reciprocity exempts them, then translated into Vietnamese and certified. The decree sets no salary threshold for the work permit, so the salary is a market question, not a legal test. What Japanese chefs are paid in Vietnam is in the salary section above. There is no Vietnamese-language test.

What does the restaurant have to show?

Any registered enterprise or licensed business may employ a foreign worker; the decree sets no capital, headcount or ratio test. What the restaurant must prove is that it could not find a Vietnamese worker. At least 5 days before filing (5 working days under Decree 393), it must advertise the position to Vietnamese workers; under Decree 393 the notice can go on the national job exchange, through an employment service, in the mass media or on the employer's own website. The application form (Form 03) then combines the report explaining the demand for a foreign worker with the permit request, so the separate demand-approval step of the old Decree 152 no longer exists: the authority approves the demand and issues the permit in one decision. The form lists the business licence, the total number of employees and how many are foreign. After the permit is issued, the restaurant and the chef must sign a written labour contract under Vietnamese labour law before the start date. If the contract is a fixed term of 12 months or more, the chef must be enrolled in compulsory social insurance (Social Insurance Law 41/2024/QH15, Article 2(2), in force from 1 July 2025).

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

Work permit: the employer files 10 to 60 days before the start date (from 5 December 2026: at least 10 working days and no more than 60 days) at the provincial Public Administration Service Centre or online on the National Public Service Portal. The authority must approve the demand and issue the permit within 10 working days of a complete application, or explain a refusal within 3 working days. The permit runs for the length of the labour contract, up to 2 years; it can be extended once for up to 2 years (from 5 December 2026: apply 10 working days to 90 days before expiry, decision in 5 working days), after which the employer applies for a new permit, so there is no fixed limit on total years. The permit fee is set by each province's People's Council: JETRO's December 2024 manual reported that Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City charged no fee for online applications until 31 December 2025, while Da Nang charged VND 600,000 for a new permit; check the current fee with the provincial Department of Home Affairs. Visa and residence: the immigration fee schedule in Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, in force from 1 April 2026, sets USD 25 for a single-entry visa, USD 50 to 145 for a multiple-entry visa of up to 90 days to 2 years, and USD 145 for a temporary residence card of up to 2 years; confirm the fee charged by the Vietnamese embassy or consulate in Japan. JETRO's manual gives at least 5 working days each for the visa and the residence card. The amended Immigration Law (Law 51/2019/QH14) caps the LD1 and LD2 visa at 2 years and the LD temporary residence card at 2 years. The 45-day visa exemption for Japanese citizens (Resolution 44/NQ-CP, 15 March 2025-14 March 2028) covers entry only; working needs the permit. The overall time of 1 to 3 months adds the official steps (about 4 to 8 weeks once the Japanese documents are legalised) to the chef's notice period in Japan.

Is there a working holiday route?

No. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan's working holiday page (1 April 2026) lists 32 partner countries and regions, from Australia in 1980 to Malta and Italy in 2026, and Vietnam is not among them. Every kitchen hire needs the work permit route. The only short-cut is the short-term case: a manager, executive, expert or technical worker who works in Vietnam for a total of under 90 days in a calendar year does not need a work permit, and the employer only notifies the authority at least 3 working days before the start. That suits an opening, a menu launch or training visits. From 5 December 2026 Decree 393 narrows it: if a hiring relationship and salary payment arise, the employer must apply for a work permit under a labour contract. The chef's spouse and children under 18 can join on a TT (dependant) visa, which the amended Immigration Law grants to family members of LD1 and LD2 holders; a TT visa runs up to 12 months and a TT temporary residence card up to 3 years.

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

Where do restaurants in Vietnam find Japanese chefs?

Vietnam had about 1,820 Japanese restaurants in the agriculture ministry's November 2025 count (up 200 since the previous survey), and the restaurant site Foody listed 1,382 in Ho Chi Minh City and 589 in Hanoi in July 2026 (JETRO). The Japanese community is small and shrinking (16,636 people in October 2025, down 4.4%), and an importer told JETRO that most Japanese restaurants in Vietnam are run by non-Japanese, so most kitchens are staffed by Vietnamese cooks. Owners hire through the Vietnamese job banks, the hospitality board Hoteljob.vn, their own Facebook and Zalo recruitment pages, the Japanese-affiliated agencies in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the Japan-side career sites for head chefs, and, more and more, Vietnamese who have worked in restaurants in Japan.

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 Vietnam?

Vietnam gives you two pools. Chefs hired from Japan bring trained hands but cost several times the local rate: the one head-chef role advertised to candidates in Japan in autumn 2026 offered VND 80 to 90 million a month, against VND 8 to 25 million for local sushi and Japanese-kitchen postings that October. Local hiring draws on Vietnamese cooks from the job banks and hotel kitchens and on Vietnamese who have worked in restaurants in Japan; the Japanese community itself is only 16,636 people (October 2025, down 4.4%). Work permit rules are covered separately.

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

Frequently asked questions