外国人暮らしのQ&A 「インド料理のコックとして働いているレストランが他の国の料理に変わってもそのまま働けるか?」

Q:

I have the status of residence of Skilled Labor, and I am working as a chef at an Indian curry restaurant. If the restaurant changes ownership, and the menu changes from Indian to, say, Italian, or some other cuisine, will I still be able to work as a chef at the same restaurant?

A:

In order to undertake work as a chef in Japan, a foreign national must have the status of residence (zairyū shikaku / 在留資格) of Skilled Labor (ginō / 技能). One of the requirements for this particular status of residence (under the Ministerial Order to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 7, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act [出入国管理及び難民認定法第七条第一項第二号の基準を定める省令]) stipulates that a foreign national employed as a chef be engaged "in the duties of preparing cuisine or producing foodstuffs that require skills which were devised overseas and that are foreign to Japan" and "with at least 10 years' experience using the skills" (5 years' experience in the case of Thai cuisine under the Agreement between Japan and the Kingdom of Thailand for an Economic Partnership [経済上の連携に関する日本国とタイ王国との間の協定附属書]).

As it seems you have been granted the status of residence of Skilled Labor on the basis of having more than 10 years' practical experience preparing Indian cuisine, if the restaurant where you are employed were to change its menu from Indian to another cuisine, in order to work there as a chef, you would need to have the required amount of practical experience in preparation of the new cuisine.

If you do not have 10 years' practical experience in preparation of the new cuisine (5 years' practical experience for Thai cuisine), you will not be able to work as a chef at that restaurant. In that case, you will need to think about finding new employment at another Indian restaurant as authorized by your current status of residence.

In addition, if you have been residing in Japan continuously for more than 10 years, you can also submit an Application for Permanent Residence (eijū kyoka shinsei / 永住許可申請).
If your application is approved and you are granted the status of residence of Permanent Resident (eijūsha / 永住者), you will no longer have any restrictions on your employment.

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