Chefs and Restaurant Workers: Sweden Work Permit 2026

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Which permit?
Salary: no exemption for restaurant jobs
The collective agreement: Visita and HRF
Extra requirements for restaurants
Inspections in restaurants
Common reasons for refusal or delay
Document checklist
Frequently Asked Questions
How Settio helps employers and agencies
Sources

Chefs and restaurant workers from outside the EU can get a Swedish work permit, but they need a salary of at least SEK 34,470 a month, terms at least on par with the collective agreement or what is customary, and an employer that can show it can pay. Hotels and restaurants are one of the industries where Migrationsverket has higher requirements.

This guide is for restaurant owners and HR teams, and for chefs planning the move themselves.

Which permit?

Usually a standard work permit. An EU Blue Card needs a highly qualified job and at least SEK 53,625 a month. Seasonal work permits are a separate route for seasonal work. See seasonal work permits.

Salary: no exemption for restaurant jobs

None of the common restaurant occupations are on the exemption list in the Aliens Ordinance, so the 90% floor applies.

SSYK code	Occupation	Salary floor
3451	Head chefs and sous chefs (köksmästare och souschefer)	SEK 34,470
5120	Cooks and cold-kitchen cooks (kockar och kallskänkor)	SEK 34,470
9412	Restaurant and kitchen assistants	SEK 34,470

Compare the collective agreement's wage for the role with SEK 34,470: if the agreement's minimum is lower, the salary in the offer must be set higher to qualify. The requirement is on the monthly salary, so part-time contracts often fall short. Exempt groups, such as former students applying from inside Sweden, need the 75% level of SEK 28,725. Check a figure with the salary threshold tool.

The collective agreement: Visita and HRF

The main agreement for hotels and restaurants is the Gröna riksavtalet (the "green national agreement") between the employers' organisation Visita and the union Hotell- och restaurangfacket (HRF). The current agreement runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2027. For a work permit, terms must be at least on par with Swedish collective agreements or what is customary in the industry, whether or not the restaurant has signed one.

In the e-service, the employer gives the relevant union, normally HRF, the opportunity to comment on the terms of employment. If the union does not comment, Migrationsverket itself decides whether the terms match collective agreements or what is customary. Read more in collective agreements and work permits.

Extra requirements for restaurants

Migrationsverket treats hotels and restaurants (SNI codes 55101 and 56) as an industry with higher requirements, along with cleaning, construction, trade, agriculture and forestry, car workshops, some services and staffing. In these industries the employer must be able to prove that it can pay the salary for at least three months. Municipal, regional and state employers are exempt, and businesses under a year old or dormant face the same test.

In practice, expect to send evidence such as recent accounts, bank statements or a forecast that shows the business can carry the extra salary. New restaurants without a track record need the strongest evidence.

Inspections in restaurants

Arbetsmiljöverket (the Work Environment Authority) and eight other agencies work together against work-related crime, with seven regional centres. They make regular unannounced joint checks at workplaces where there is a risk of such crime. In a joint check:

Migrationsverket checks that people have the right to work and that employers follow the rules for hiring foreign labour.
The Police check work permits and the right to stay.
Skatteverket checks cash registers and, in some industries, the personalliggare (staff register).
Arbetsmiljöverket checks the work environment and working hours.

Restaurants must keep a personalliggare, on paper or electronically: a record of everyone working in the restaurant, entered right when each shift starts and ends. A missing or wrongly kept register can lead to a control fee of SEK 12,500 plus SEK 2,500 for each person working who is not in it. Employing someone without the right to stay or work costs a special fee of two price base amounts per person, four if it lasted more than three months, and it is also a crime.

Common reasons for refusal or delay

Salary below SEK 34,470, often because the offer was copied from the agreement's minimum wage.
Weak finances. The restaurant cannot show it can pay three months of salary.
Unrealistic hours or terms. Overtime, split shifts or unpaid trial periods that do not match the agreement.
Earlier breaches. Since 1 June 2026 a permit can be refused if the employer has been charged a special fee or is convicted of, or reasonably suspected of, certain crimes.
Job title mismatch. A "chef" whose tasks are kitchen assistant work, or the other way round.
Missing insurances or no ten-day advertisement.

The most serious risk comes later. Migrationsverket checks the terms again at extension, so if the salary or terms fell below what the permit was based on, the extension can be refused. See kompetensutvisning and the employer's guide to refusals.

Document checklist

Passport copy
Offer of employment with SSYK code, full-time hours and monthly salary of at least SEK 34,470
HRF's opinion on the terms, or proof the union was given the opportunity to comment
The ten-day advertisement
Proof of the insurances (through the agreement or bought separately)
Financial evidence that the restaurant can pay at least three months of salary
Proof of the chef's experience or training (useful when tasks are senior)
Comprehensive health insurance if the employee will stay a year or less

After the decision: report the hire to Skatteverket, add the employee to the staff register from the first shift, and keep a copy of the permit until 12 months after the employment ends.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum salary for a chef work permit in Sweden in 2026?

SEK 34,470 a month for applications from 16 June 2026, which is 90% of the median. Chefs and cooks are not exempt. The terms must also be at least on par with the collective agreement, such as the Visita and HRF agreement, or what is customary for the role.

Why do restaurants have to prove they can pay salaries?

Migrationsverket treats hotels and restaurants as an industry with higher requirements. Employers there must be able to prove that they can pay the salary for at least three months.

Can a cook work part-time on a Swedish work permit?

Only if the monthly salary still reaches the floor, SEK 34,470 for most applicants. In practice this is rare for part-time restaurant jobs, so most permits for cooks are for full-time work.

Who inspects restaurants for illegal work in Sweden?

Arbetsmiljöverket and eight other agencies, including the Police, Migrationsverket and Skatteverket, make unannounced joint checks. They check the right to work, the staff register, cash registers and the work environment.

How Settio helps employers and agencies

Settio helps employers and immigration agencies run every work permit and relocation case in one place, from the first step to the renewal:

Before the move: a plan for every hire, with each step, owner and deadline counted back from the start date, and documents that check themselves as they come in.
After arrival: the employee portal shows the new hire their next steps on their phone, in their language, with no account or password.
For the renewal: permit and salary monitoring tracks every expiry date and flags the extension in good time.

Your first hire is free, and agencies can try a real case for free. See plans and start.

Sources

13 official sources

More in our guide toImmigration to Sweden

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Chefs and Restaurant Workers: Sweden Work Permit Rules for 2026