If you run a hotel, restaurant, or food service operation in Ireland and you cannot fill a chef role locally, you are not alone — and you are not out of options. Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, and Head Chef are all eligible for a General Employment Permit (GEP) from DETE, Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. The process exists, it works, and Irish hospitality businesses use it regularly.
This guide explains how hiring a chef from overseas in Ireland actually works — the permit route, the timeline, what it costs, and where most employers get stuck. By the end, you will know whether it makes sense for your situation and what to do next.
Can I hire a chef from overseas in Ireland?
Yes. Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, and Head Chef are specifically exempted from DETE's ineligible occupations list — meaning they can be sponsored for a General Employment Permit. There are two conditions worth knowing upfront:
- Experience requirements apply. Chef de Partie requires a minimum of 2 years' experience. Sous Chef and Head Chef each require a minimum of 5 years' experience. These must be verifiable and documented in the application.
- The role cannot be in a fast food outlet. DETE's exemption applies to restaurants, hotels, and catering establishments — not fast food operations.
One more thing worth flagging: in April 2026, DETE announced that the quota for Hospitality Manager roles had been filled — that category is closed for new applications. Chef roles are not affected by this closure. Chef permits have no quota cap. If you have been told otherwise, that information is wrong.
Chef permits vs. hospitality manager permits: These are different categories under DETE rules. The hospitality manager quota closed on 28 April 2026. Chef roles — Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, Head Chef — remain open with no quota restriction. Source: DETE latest updates.
The permit route: General Employment Permit
The route for hiring a chef from overseas in Ireland is the General Employment Permit (GEP), administered by DETE through the Employment Permits Online system. Here is how it works from start to finish.
Step 1 — Labour Market Needs Test (28 days)
Before submitting a GEP application, you must demonstrate that no suitable EEA candidate is available for the role. This is the Labour Market Needs Test (LMNT).
The LMNT requires advertising the chef vacancy for at least 28 consecutive days on two platforms:
- JobsIreland — the DSP/EURES network. This satisfies the mandatory government advertising requirement.
- One additional online job platform — a commercial board such as Indeed, IrishJobs.ie, or similar.
Both ads must include the job title, your business name, the salary, location, and hours. Keep records of every application received and document why no EEA applicant was suitable. DETE checks this documentation at application stage — it is not optional paperwork. If the records are incomplete, the application is rejected.
The 28-day clock cannot be shortened. However, you can use this window to source overseas candidates in parallel — there is no rule against shortlisting a Filipino chef while the Irish advertising is running.
Step 2 — GEP application to DETE
Once the LMNT is complete, the employer submits the GEP application through DETE's Employment Permits Online portal. The application must include:
- The signed job offer — minimum annual salary of €36,605 (the standard GEP threshold for chef roles)
- LMNT records — the job reference numbers from JobsIreland and the additional platform, plus the outcome log
- Evidence that at least 50% of your total workforce are EEA nationals at time of application (the 50/50 rule)
- The employer's tax registration details and current employee headcount
- The candidate's employment history demonstrating the required experience (2 years for Chef de Partie; 5 years for Sous Chef or Head Chef)
The GEP application fee is €1,000 for a permit of between 6 and 24 months. This is the employer's cost — it cannot be deducted from the worker's wages. If the application is refused, DETE refunds 90% of the fee.
Processing time for new GEP applications: DETE is currently working through applications submitted from 8 March 2026. Check current processing dates at enterprise.gov.ie before planning your timeline — this date moves regularly. Allow approximately 10 to 12 weeks from submission to decision as a working estimate, but verify the live figure.
Step 3 — D-visa (for Filipino chefs)
Once DETE approves the GEP, a Filipino chef applies for an Irish long-stay D-visa at the Irish Embassy in Manila. The employer is not involved in the visa application directly — you provide a copy of the approved employment permit, and the worker submits the application. Turnaround at the Irish Embassy in Manila is typically 2 to 4 weeks.
On arrival in Ireland, the worker registers with Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) to receive their Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card, confirming their right to work under the permit.
The 50/50 rule — what it means for your kitchen
The 50/50 rule states that at least 50% of your total workforce must be EEA nationals at the time you submit the GEP application. This catches some hospitality employers off guard.
If your business already employs several non-EEA workers, you may find you cannot take on another without breaching the threshold. Two things to check before going any further:
- Count your current total headcount and confirm how many are EEA nationals
- Make sure the calculation is based on the whole business — not just the kitchen, not just one site
The only exemptions to the 50/50 rule are: sole employee situations (you are the only worker in the business), and start-ups under 2 years old that have a formal letter of support from Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland. A "small team" exemption does not exist. If you have heard otherwise, it is incorrect.
If you are close to the threshold, contact us before starting the process. We do a 50/50 ratio check as the first step — it takes a few minutes and tells you immediately whether there is a barrier here. For a full explanation of how the rule is calculated, read our guide to the 50/50 rule.
Why Irish hospitality businesses hire Filipino chefs
Filipino chefs have been a source of skilled kitchen talent for Irish hotels and restaurants for years. A few reasons Irish employers specifically look to the Philippines:
Formal culinary training. The Philippines has accredited culinary institutes — graduates come with structured, verifiable qualifications that translate well to professional kitchen environments in Ireland.
English proficiency. English is a medium of instruction in Philippine schools and is widely spoken. Communication in a busy kitchen is not an issue that Irish employers typically encounter with Filipino hires.
Structured departure process. Filipino workers travel through the Philippines' Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) programme. They are medically cleared, documented, and departure-oriented before leaving. When they arrive in Ireland, they are prepared — not arriving with uncertainty about their status or paperwork.
Stability. Filipino workers who make the move to Ireland for a professional role have typically committed to the placement. The permit process is not trivial from their side either — they are invested in making it work.
What it costs to hire a chef from overseas
Irish employers ask about cost early, which is the right instinct. Here is an honest breakdown:
- DETE GEP application fee: €1,000 — paid at submission, refunded at 90% if refused
- Minimum salary: €36,605 per year — this is a legal floor, not a suggested figure
- Employer PRSI and standard employment costs — same as any Irish hire
- Agency fee — CA Recruitment charges a placement fee, confirmed during the free initial consultation. Government permit, visa and travel costs are billed to you separately, at cost.
Some employers ask whether they can pass the €1,000 DETE fee on to the worker. The answer is no — this is an employer cost under Irish employment law. Deducting it from wages is a WRC (Workplace Relations Commission) compliance issue.
For a detailed breakdown of all costs involved in overseas hiring — including Philippine-side documents, travel, and arrival costs — see our full cost guide for hiring overseas workers in Ireland.
End-to-end timeline
| Stage | Duration | Who manages it |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility check, 50/50 ratio assessment, role classification | 1–2 days | CA Recruitment |
| Candidate sourcing and shortlisting (runs during LMNT) | 2–4 weeks | CA Recruitment |
| Labour Market Needs Test | 28 days (minimum) | CA Recruitment |
| DETE GEP application processing | ~10–12 weeks (check live dates at enterprise.gov.ie) | DETE |
| Philippine documentation (NBI clearance, medical, OEC) | 2–4 weeks (runs during DETE processing) | Worker / CA Recruitment |
| Irish D-visa (Irish Embassy, Manila) | 2–4 weeks | Worker |
| Travel, arrival, PPS number, IRP registration | 1–2 weeks | Worker / CA Recruitment |
Total: 6 to 8 months from first contact to first shift. Parallel staging — sourcing during the LMNT, Philippine documents during DETE processing — keeps this towards the four-month end. A DETE processing backlog can extend it; check the live dates before setting expectations with your team.
How CA Recruitment handles it
CA Recruitment is founded and run by Monette, a Filipino national based in Tipperary. She built the agency because she understood both sides of this process from direct experience — the Irish permit system as it actually works, and what the Philippines departure process involves in practice. Most Irish recruitment agencies outsource the Philippines-side to a partner they have limited oversight of. We manage both sides directly.
What we handle for every hospitality placement:
- Free eligibility check and 50/50 ratio assessment
- Candidate sourcing and vetting in the Philippines — culinary background checks, experience verification
- Labour Market Needs Test management — we run the advertising, keep the records, and prepare the LMNT documentation for DETE
- GEP application preparation and submission through DETE's Employment Permits Online system
- Philippine documentation tracking — NBI clearance, medical certificate, OEC, and DMW departure clearance
- D-visa coordination with the Irish Embassy in Manila
- Arrival support — PPS number, IRP registration, first-week onboarding
The recruitment fee is agreed upfront and is separate from the government permit costs.
CA Recruitment is DMW-accredited for Ireland placements. This means Filipino workers can depart through the Philippines' official overseas employment programme — the documented, legally protected route. If an agency cannot confirm DMW accreditation for Ireland, the placement is legally exposed on the Philippine side.
A note on speed: The end-to-end permit process cannot be significantly accelerated — DETE's timeline is what it is. What can be shortened is the time between your first contact and the permit being submitted. We do the eligibility check, sourcing, and LMNT prep quickly. A placement we handled for an Irish care group earlier this year went from initial call to workers starting in 14 weeks — the permit was the fixed constraint, everything else was ready.
Frequently asked questions
Can I hire a chef from overseas in Ireland?
Yes. Chef de Partie (minimum 2 years' experience), Sous Chef (minimum 5 years'), and Head Chef (minimum 5 years') are all eligible for a General Employment Permit from DETE. The role cannot be in a fast food outlet. There is no quota cap on chef permits — unlike hospitality manager roles, which reached their 2026 limit in April.
What salary do I need to pay a chef on a work permit in Ireland?
The minimum annual salary is €36,605 — the standard GEP threshold. This applies to Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, and Head Chef roles. The salary must be paid as a basic wage; tips and commission do not count. DETE will reject an application that falls below this figure.
How long does it take to hire a chef from overseas in Ireland?
6 to 8 months end-to-end. That covers 28 days for the LMNT, approximately 10 to 12 weeks of DETE processing (check current dates at enterprise.gov.ie), 2 to 4 weeks for the D-visa, and arrival and onboarding time. Running sourcing in parallel with the LMNT keeps the timeline shorter.
What is the Labour Market Needs Test for hiring a chef?
Before applying for a GEP, you must advertise the role for at least 28 consecutive days on two platforms: JobsIreland (the DSP/EURES network) and one additional online platform. Keep records of all applications received and document why no EEA candidate was suitable. DETE reviews this documentation when you submit the permit application — incomplete records will get the application refused.
Can I hire a chef from the Philippines for my Irish restaurant or hotel?
Yes. Filipino chefs are well-suited to professional kitchen roles — strong formal culinary training, English proficiency, and a structured departure process through the Philippines' Department of Migrant Workers. The permit route is the same General Employment Permit used across all sectors. CA Recruitment is DMW-accredited for Ireland and manages the full process on both sides of the placement.