A Nepalese chef found guilty of murdering his "obnoxious" customer at a Ballarat restaurant was living in Australia illegally and faces deportation after he serves a jail sentence.

Hari Prasad Dhakal, 51, was found guilty of stabbing Pakistani-born IT worker Abdullah Siddiqi to death at the Ballarat Curry House on October 25, 2016.

The Ballarat Curry House.

Defence barrister Theo Alexander told a plea hearing his client was born in Nepal into a family associated with the Brahmin community.

He said Dhakal had to leave his homeland in September 2000 in order to protect his wife and two children but he could not provide any detail because it was too distressing for Dhakal.