Cambodia is one of the easier countries in the region to enter, but there are two separate pieces of paperwork and travellers routinely confuse them. Do both and you will walk through immigration in a few minutes.
The two things you need
- A visa — an e-Visa applied for online, or a visa issued on arrival. Costs money.
- The e-Arrival card — a digital arrival, health and customs declaration. Mandatory. Free.
The e-Arrival card is not a visa and does not replace one. If you need a visa, you still need a visa.
The e-Visa
The tourist e-Visa is the tidiest option: apply online, get a PDF by email, print it and hand it over at immigration. Expect to pay roughly US$36 — a US$30 visa fee plus a US$6 processing charge. It is valid for a single entry and a stay of up to 30 days, and it is usually issued within about three business days.
Apply only at evisa.gov.kh. You will need a passport valid for at least six months beyond arrival, with a blank page, and a recent passport-style photo as a digital file.
One catch worth knowing: the e-Visa is accepted at the international airports and at the main land crossings, but not at every remote border post. If you are entering somewhere obscure, check the accepted-checkpoints list on the official site first.
Visa on arrival
Visa on arrival costs US$30 for a 30-day tourist visa and is available at Phnom Penh, Siem Reap–Angkor and Sihanouk international airports and at the main land borders. Bring the fee in clean US dollars in cash and a passport photo. Officers will process it without a photo for a small extra charge, but it is easier to just carry one.
Both routes get you the same 30 days. The e-Visa costs a few dollars more and saves you a queue; visa on arrival saves you the online form. Neither is a wrong answer.
The e-Arrival card (free, mandatory)
Cambodia replaced its paper arrival, health and customs forms with a single digital submission called Cambodia e-Arrival (CeA). It is compulsory, it is free, and you submit it at arrival.gov.kh or through the official app.
- Submit it within seven days before your arrival date — not earlier.
- It costs nothing. Any site charging you a "service fee" for it is not the government.
- You will get a QR code. Save a screenshot; airport wi-fi is not guaranteed.
- Everyone submits one, including Cambodian nationals and residents.
The system launched for air arrivals at Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and has been extending across other checkpoints, so if you are crossing by land or arriving at a smaller airport, check the current coverage on the official site — you may still be handed paper forms.
Who does not need a visa
Citizens of the ASEAN member states — Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — can generally enter visa-free for short stays, though the permitted length differs by nationality. Everyone else should assume a visa is required.
Extending your stay
A 30-day tourist visa can be extended once, for a further 30 days, through the immigration department or a travel agent in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. Agents charge a premium but save you the trip. Overstaying carries a daily fine, charged in US dollars at the airport on departure, and it adds up quickly.
If you know in advance you want longer, look at the ordinary (E-class) visa instead of the tourist visa — it is the one that can be extended repeatedly.
Land borders
The busiest crossings are Poipet (to Aranyaprathet, Thailand), Bavet (to Moc Bai, Vietnam), Cham Yeam near Koh Kong (to Trat, Thailand) and Trapeang Kriel (to Laos). All issue visas on arrival.
Two practical notes. First, some crossings have a reputation for informal "processing" surcharges — the official fee is US$30 and a receipt should be issued. Politely declining extras usually works. Second, bus companies that "handle" your visa for you often add a margin; doing it yourself at the window takes ten minutes.
Avoiding the fake-visa sites
Search results for "Cambodia visa" are full of look-alike commercial sites charging US$70–90 for the same document. The genuine addresses are short and end in .gov.kh:
- Visa: evisa.gov.kh
- Arrival card: arrival.gov.kh
If a site asks for more than about US$36 for a tourist e-Visa, or asks you to pay for the e-Arrival card at all, close the tab.