Nearly every nationality can buy a visa on arrival for USD 30 cash, so the visa is the easy part. The e-Arrival card is the part people get wrong: it is compulsory, it is free, and the sites charging for it are not the government.
- The e-Arrival card is compulsory for every air arrival and it is free, submitted within 7 days before you land. The only official channels are arrival.gov.kh and the Cambodia e-Arrival app.
- Any site charging a "service fee" for the arrival card is not the government. The giveaway is the domain: the real one ends in .gov.kh.
- Visa on arrival is USD 30 in clean US cash plus one passport photo, at Techo International, Siem Reap Angkor, Sihanoukville and most land checkpoints. Allow 15 to 30 minutes.
- The e-Visa costs USD 36 all in and takes about 3 working days, but is accepted at fewer crossings than the visa on arrival - it is less flexible, not more. Both give 30 days, extendable once.
- Passport valid 6 months with a blank page, and an onward ticket that airlines do check. The land borders with Thailand are closed, so Bangkok to Siem Reap has to be flown.
Two separate things, and only one of them is a visa
Almost everyone needs a visa, and almost everyone can buy one at the airport. Everyone flying in also needs the e-Arrival card, which is not a visa and costs nothing. Confusing the two is what costs people money.
The e-Arrival card
- Compulsory for every air arrival, submitted within 7 days before you land. You get a QR code to show at immigration.
- It is free. The only official channels are arrival.gov.kh and the Cambodia e-Arrival app.
- The paid lookalikes are not the government. The General Department of Immigration has publicly named cambodia-e-arrival.online as fraudulent and warns that any site charging a "service fee" for the card is not theirs. The giveaway is the domain: the real one ends in .gov.kh.
- Land crossings still use the paper card, filled in at the counter.
Getting the visa
- Visa on arrival - USD 30, tourist (T) class. Available at Techo International, Siem Reap Angkor International, Sihanoukville and most land checkpoints. Bring the fee in clean USD cash and one passport photo; without a photo you will be charged a small extra fee. Allow 15 to 30 minutes.
- e-Visa - USD 36 all in, being the USD 30 visa plus a USD 6 processing fee, at evisa.gov.kh. Takes about 3 working days, is valid 3 months from issue, single entry, 30 days. It is accepted at the three international airports and at selected land checkpoints from Vietnam and Laos, so it is less flexible than the visa on arrival, not more.
- Visa-free if you hold an ASEAN passport: Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam get 30 days; Brunei and Myanmar get 14; Thailand gets 7, cut back during the border dispute.
Both routes give you 30 days, extendable once by another 30 at the immigration office in Phnom Penh.
Two nationality cases worth checking before you book
- Chinese passports, including Hong Kong and Macao, are visa-free for 14 days on a pilot that runs 15 June to 15 October 2026, multiple entry. It is a trial with a published end date - after 15 October 2026 the normal visa rules return unless it is extended, so check before travelling in the autumn.
- Ten nationalities cannot use the visa on arrival or the e-Visa at all: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Sudan. They must apply at a Cambodian embassy in advance, usually with a supporting letter from a travel agency.
At the desk
- Passport valid at least 6 months from arrival, with a blank page.
- Onward or return ticket is required and airlines do check it.
- The land borders with Thailand are closed. If your plan was Bangkok to Siem Reap overland, it does not currently work - see the safety section.
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