Cambodia does not offer visa-free entry to most nomad nationalities (US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, etc.) — true visa exemption is limited to ASEAN member states and a small handful of other countries. The default entry method for most nomads is a paid Visa on Arrival or e-Visa, detailed below alongside the actual visa-exempt list.
- Digital nomad visa
- No
Overall7/10Easier visas than about 75% of cities
Good to know
Good to Know
- Don't assume 'ASEAN region = visa-free' applies to you — unless your passport is specifically on Cambodia's exemption list (mostly ASEAN nationals plus a few others like Seychelles), you'll need a Visa on Arrival or e-Visa.
- Getting the e-Visa online before you fly is usually smoother than doing it at the border, and it's a similar price — worth doing in advance to skip the arrival queue.
- If you're planning to stay more than ~60 days, look into the Ordinary/Business 'E' class visa from the start — it's only slightly pricier and extends far more easily than the plain Tourist visa.
- Bring clean, undamaged US dollar bills for any cash visa fee — counterfeit and 'novelty' fake USD notes are a known local scam, and worn bills are sometimes rejected.
- Always double check current exemption durations and any temporary changes (e.g. border-dispute-related reductions) on Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs site close to your travel date, as these have shifted in the past year.
- There is no digital nomad-specific visa in Cambodia — long-stay remote workers use the general Ordinary (E-class) visa, extended into EB business categories for 1, 3, 6, or 12 months.
- Cambodia's economy is heavily dollarized, so visa fees and most nomad-relevant prices are quoted and paid directly in US dollars rather than Riel.
- Since 2024–2026, enforcement of work-permit rules has tightened significantly; while pure remote workers with only foreign income are not required to get a Cambodian work permit, keep documentation proving your income is foreign-sourced in case of spot checks.
- Crossing 182 days of physical presence makes you a Cambodian tax resident, but this status is not automatic — you must formally declare it with the General Department of Taxation to get progressive resident rates instead of the flat 20% non-resident rate.
- A Tourist (T-class) visa cannot be converted into a long-stay Business/EB visa from inside the country — if you enter on a Tourist visa and want to stay long-term, you'll need to do a border run to re-enter on an E-class visa.
Default Process For Most Nomads
- Extensions
- The Tourist visa can be extended once for an additional 30 days at the Department of Immigration in Phnom Penh, for a fee of roughly $45. The Ordinary/Business 'E' visa is more flexible and can be extended repeatedly, which is why most long-staying nomads enter on or convert to an E-class visa rather than the plain tourist visa.
- Overstay Penalty
- Overstaying costs $10 per day; overstays beyond 30 days additionally require a $30 exit visa processed at the Immigration Visa Office in Phnom Penh.
- Description
- For nationalities NOT on the exemption list (the vast majority of digital nomads), the standard route is a Tourist 'T' class Visa on Arrival or e-Visa.
Options
Visa on Arrival
- How
- Available at Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville international airports and most land border crossings. Fill out a form, submit a passport photo, and pay in cash on the spot.
- Fee Tourist
- KHR 120,300
- Fee Business
- KHR 140,350
- Processing Time
- Typically 10–20 minutes at the border
- Stay Length Days
- 30
e-Visa (Online, in Advance)
- How
- Apply via the official government e-Visa portal before travel; pay online and present the printed or digital certificate on arrival.
- Processing Time
- Commonly a few business days; some providers report 24–72 hours
- Stay Length Days
- 30
- Fee Tourist All In
- KHR 144,350
Who Actually Gets Visa Free Entry
- How It Works If Exempt
- No application, fee, or advance process is needed for the exempt stay period itself — just present a passport valid at least 6 months with one blank page. However, since January 2025 everyone (exempt or not) arriving by air must still submit the Cambodia e-Arrival Card online within 7 days before arrival.
- Description
- Ordinary passport holders from all ASEAN member states (Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) plus a handful of other countries with bilateral agreements.
Details
- Holders of ordinary passports of all ASEAN member states may enter Cambodia without a visa, with the permitted stay length varying by nationality.
- Seychelles nationals are also fully visa-exempt for entry to Cambodia.
- As a temporary measure until 15 October 2026, Chinese citizens holding People's Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR, or Macao SAR passports are visa-exempt.
- Thai nationals' visa-free stay was temporarily cut from 14 days to 7 days in mid-2025 due to a Cambodia–Thailand border dispute, illustrating that these exemptions can change with diplomatic relations.
Cambodia's visa exemption is reciprocal/regional rather than a broad Schengen-style waiver. Most visitors — including nearly all passport holders from North America, Europe, Australia/NZ, and most of Asia outside ASEAN — must obtain a paid Visa on Arrival or e-Visa before or at entry. Only a specific list of nationalities (mostly ASEAN members plus a few bilateral-agreement countries) can enter without any visa at all.
Universal Entry Requirements
Universal Entry Requirements
- Passport valid at least 6 months from arrival date with at least 1 blank page
- Proof of a return or onward ticket
- Since January 2025, all air arrivals must submit the Cambodia e-Arrival Card (a digital form covering the old arrival/health/customs cards) within 7 days before arrival
Applies To Most Western Nomads
No
Digital Nomad Visa And Tax
- Visa Ease Tier
- high
- Enforcement Trend
- Since 2024, Cambodian authorities have tightened enforcement by linking the Foreign Workers Centralized Management System (FWCMS) to the Ministry of Interior's immigration database, and EB visa renewals at the 6- and 12-month marks are increasingly checked against a valid work permit on file where the holder is working locally. Digital nomads relying purely on foreign income should keep clear documentation (contracts, invoices) showing their income is foreign-sourced.
- Visa Ease Tier Rationale
- No dedicated nomad visa, but the cheap E-class visa is easy to obtain and extend into a multi-entry 12-month EB status with minimal documentation and no income proof required.
Tax Regime
- Residents
- Cambodian tax residents are taxed on a progressive Tax on Salary (TOS) scale from 0% to 20% on their salary income, and the mainstream professional-services view (PwC, Acclime, BDO, Bright!Tax) is that this applies to worldwide salary income once residency is established, not just Cambodia-sourced income. Credits may be available for foreign tax already paid on the same income, subject to documentation.
- Non Residents
- Non-residents are taxed at a flat 20% withholding rate, but only on Cambodian-sourced salary income; this is a final tax with no further filing.
- Filing Mechanics
- Cambodia's Tax on Salary is normally withheld and remitted monthly by an employer (by the 15th of the following month); there is generally no separate annual personal income tax return required for standard salaried individuals.
- Other Individual Taxes
- Cambodia has no capital gains tax (gains on assets fall instead under Tax on Profit for business activity), no social security tax on individuals, no wealth, estate, gift or inheritance tax, and no real estate tax at the individual level.
- US Specific Note
- Cambodia has no tax treaty with the United States, so US citizens cannot rely on treaty relief and must use mechanisms like the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or Foreign Tax Credit on their US return; Cambodia has ratified double taxation agreements with a number of other countries as of 2026.
Tax Residency Trigger
- Rule
- A foreigner becomes a Cambodian tax resident if physically present in Cambodia for more than 182 days within any 12-month period, or if Cambodia is their principal place of abode/domicile, or their center of economic interest is in Cambodia.
- Declaration Required
- Meeting the day-count alone is not automatic — the individual (and employer, if applicable) must formally declare tax residency status with the General Department of Taxation (GDT) to access resident/progressive tax treatment. Failing to declare can mean continued taxation at the higher non-resident flat rate even after crossing 182 days.
Practical Visa Pathway
- Income Requirement
- There is no published minimum income or bank-balance threshold for the E/EB visa itself, unlike formal digital-nomad-visa schemes elsewhere in the region. In practice, agents processing the EB extension typically ask only for a passport copy, photo, and completed application form rather than proof of income.
- Work Permit Distinction
- A remote worker earning money only from foreign clients/employers outside Cambodia is generally not required to hold a Cambodian work permit. A work permit from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) is required only if you work for, or earn income from, a Cambodia-based entity.
Entry Visa
- Cost
- $35
- Name
- Ordinary/Business Visa (E-class), sometimes called EB
- Validity
- 30 days on entry
- Notes
- Obtained on arrival (or via e-visa/embassy) as a Type E visa, then converted/extended inside the country. This is the visa route most long-stay remote workers use rather than the Tourist (T-class) visa, since a Tourist visa cannot be converted to a long-stay category without leaving the country and doing a border run.
Extensions
- Options
- Once inside Cambodia, the E visa is extended into an EB (business) category for 1, 3, 6, or 12 months
- Multi Entry
- The 6-month and 12-month EB extensions are multiple-entry, useful for nomads who want to travel regionally without losing status
- Typical Cost 12 Month
- $290
- Cost Note
- The ~$280–300 figure for a 1-year multiple-entry EB extension is a typical all-in price charged by local visa agents (who handle paperwork/sponsorship), not a fixed single government fee — expect variation between agents.
Documents Typically Required
- Passport valid at least 6 months beyond intended stay
- Passport-sized photo
- Completed visa/extension application form
- Visa/extension fee payment
- For EB extensions, a local sponsor or visa-agent arrangement is normally used to process the 'business' extension category
Dedicated Digital Nomad Visa
- Exists
- No
- Summary
- Cambodia has no dedicated digital nomad visa. Remote workers use the general Ordinary (E-class) visa system instead, which is not designed specifically for nomads but is widely used by them.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.