GlobeQuest

Cambodia visas and residency

Who can visit Cambodia without a visa, and the 5 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Cambodia, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

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Long stay

How you actually move to Cambodia

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

E-class (ordinary) visa with EB extension + work permit

Anyone employed by, or running, a Cambodian-registered business — and their dependants. This is the mainstream route and it is unusually accessible by regional standards: there is no salary floor, no quota and no labour-market test.

What you need
  • Enter on an E-class (ordinary) visa — USD 35 as an e-Visa or visa on arrival, giving an initial 30 days
  • Extend in-country under the EB (business/employment) suffix in 1, 3, 6 or 12-month increments; the 6 and 12-month extensions are multiple-entry, the 1 and 3-month ones are not
  • Employment, company or freelance documentation supporting the EB purpose
  • A separate work permit and employment card from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, filed through FWCMS
  • Dependants (spouse, children) extend on EB alongside the principal
How long it lasts
The ordinary visa is extendable indefinitely, one extension at a time. Most long-stayers simply renew a 12-month EB extension every year, for as many years as they like.
Path to permanent residence
None in the ordinary sense. Cambodia has no points-based or time-served permanent-residence track — twenty years of annual EB renewals leaves you exactly where you started, still renewing. Naturalisation exists under the Nationality Law but is discretionary and rarely used by ordinary residents. Treat Cambodia as indefinitely renewable rather than as a path to settlement.
Cost
E-class visa USD 35. EB extensions run roughly USD 50 (1 month), USD 85 (3 months), USD 170 (6 months) and USD 285-300 (12 months) when arranged through an agent, which is how nearly everyone does it. Work-permit government fees total roughly USD 130 a year.
Processing time
The visa is same-day (on arrival) or a few days (e-Visa). An EB extension through an agent typically takes one to three weeks with your passport held; work-permit issuance through FWCMS is usually a few weeks once the employer files.
Worth knowing
  • The EB extension does NOT authorise you to work. That is the work permit, issued separately by the Ministry of Labour through FWCMS, and holding one without the other leaves you exposed. Since 2024 immigration has been checking for a valid work permit before approving 6 and 12-month EB renewals, which finally closed the gap most people used to ignore.
  • The work permit runs on the calendar year and expires on 31 December regardless of when it was issued — renewal opens 1 January and closes 31 March. A permit bought in November is worth six weeks. Budget for that, and do not assume it runs twelve months from issue.
  • The extension market runs through agents because the immigration counters are not set up for walk-in foreigners. That is normal here and not a scam in itself, but you are handing over your passport, so use an agent your employer or landlord already uses.
  • Cambodia has no digital-nomad visa. Remote workers with no Cambodian employer routinely sit on EB extensions anyway; that is common practice rather than a designed route, and it does not on its own solve the work-permit question.
  • The e-Arrival card (arrival.gov.kh) became mandatory for air arrivals in 2025. It is free and takes minutes, but it is separate from the visa and people miss it.
Sources:General Department of Immigration, Ministry of InteriorMinistry of Labour and Vocational TrainingFWCMS — Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (MLVT)Cambodia e-Arrival (arrival.gov.kh)Acclime Cambodia — immigration guide (E-class extensions, work permit)
RetirementMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

ER retirement extension

Retired people aged 55 or over who can support themselves and do not intend to work in Cambodia.

What you need
  • Age 55 or above
  • Evidence of retirement and of funds or pension income sufficient to support yourself — Cambodia does not publish a hard numeric threshold, which cuts both ways
  • Enter on an E-class (ordinary) visa, then extend under the ER suffix
  • No employment in Cambodia
How long it lasts
Issued in 1, 3, 6 or 12-month increments like every other E-class extension, renewed indefinitely.
Path to permanent residence
None. ER is renewable forever but never converts into permanent residence.
Cost
E-class visa USD 35, then roughly USD 275-300 for a 12-month ER extension through an agent.
Processing time
One to three weeks for the extension once your documents are in.
Worth knowing
  • The absence of a published income or bank-balance threshold is the whole story here. Compared with Thailand's 800,000 baht or Malaysia's restructured MM2H, Cambodia's retirement route is documentary rather than financial — but that also means no statutory entitlement to rely on if an officer is unconvinced.
  • ER does not permit work. If you want to consult, teach or run anything, you belong on EB with a work permit, not on ER.
  • Health cover is entirely your own problem — no visa category here requires or provides it, and serious cases are routinely evacuated to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City.
Sources:General Department of Immigration, Ministry of InteriorAcclime Cambodia — immigration guide (E-class extensions, work permit)Cambodia Expats Online — visa, extension and work-permit guide
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

EG job-seeking extension

Newly arrived foreigners who intend to work in Cambodia but do not yet have an employer. The category most first-timers actually land on.

What you need
  • An E-class (ordinary) visa on entry
  • No employer or company documentation yet — that is the point of the category
  • Intention to find work and switch to EB
How long it lasts
Short extensions only — commonly up to six months in total, single-entry. It is a bridge, not a home.
Path to permanent residence
None; EG is designed to be converted to EB once you have a job.
Cost
Comparable to the equivalent EB extension lengths (roughly USD 50-170 depending on duration, via an agent).
Processing time
One to three weeks.
Worth knowing
  • EG does not authorise work. Starting a job on an EG extension without switching to EB and obtaining a work permit is exactly the situation the post-2024 FWCMS checks are designed to catch.
  • EG extensions are single-entry, so leaving the country cancels your permission to stay. Sort out re-entry before you plan a border run.
  • Because EG is capped and non-renewable beyond its short window, treat it as a clock: you have a matter of months to convert to EB, not an open-ended stay.
Sources:General Department of Immigration, Ministry of InteriorAcclime Cambodia — immigration guide (E-class extensions, work permit)Cambodia Expats Online — visa, extension and work-permit guide
StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

ES student extension

Foreigners enrolled at a Cambodian school, university or recognised language institution.

What you need
  • Enrolment documentation from the institution
  • Evidence of funds to support yourself
  • An E-class (ordinary) visa on entry, then extension under the ES suffix
How long it lasts
Up to 12 months at a time while enrolled, renewable for the length of the programme.
Path to permanent residence
None. Study time earns no settlement rights; graduates who want to stay move onto EB with a work permit like everybody else.
Cost
Broadly in line with the other E-class extensions.
Processing time
One to three weeks.
Worth knowing
  • ES is not a cheap back door to a long stay — the institution has to be real and the enrolment documented, and immigration has become less tolerant of paper enrolments.
  • Studying does not authorise work. There is no student work allowance.
Sources:General Department of Immigration, Ministry of InteriorAcclime Cambodia — immigration guide (E-class extensions, work permit)
InvestmentLow confidenceVerified August 2026

Cambodia My 2nd Home (CM2H)

Investors who want a long multi-year visa without renewing annually. Promoted under the Ministry of Interior and launched in late 2022.

What you need
  • Aged 18 or over, valid passport, clean criminal record and a medical report
  • A qualifying investment of at least USD 100,000, in practice into Cambodian real estate or an approved business, plus a bank deposit held in Cambodia for the duration of membership
  • Family members can be included on the same membership
How long it lasts
A ten-year renewable visa rather than the usual annual extension cycle.
Path to permanent residence
CM2H is a long visa, not permanent residence. Programme marketing points at naturalisation after several years, but Cambodian citizenship is granted under the Nationality Law at the government's discretion and is not an entitlement earned by holding CM2H. Do not buy in expecting a passport.
Cost
The USD 100,000 investment or deposit is the headline; membership and processing fees are quoted separately by the programme and by licensed agents.
Processing time
Months rather than weeks; the programme markets a short processing time but it is assessed case by case.
Worth knowing
  • CM2H does not replace the work permit. If you intend to work or actively run a business in Cambodia you still need the Ministry of Labour permit through FWCMS, exactly as an EB holder does.
  • The programme is young, has attracted modest uptake, and much of what is published about it comes from agents and marketing sites rather than from a statutory instrument. Verify current terms with the Ministry of Interior or the programme itself before committing money, and treat any figure you read on a brokerage page as a quote rather than a rule.
  • The economics only make sense against the alternative: an ordinary EB extension renewed annually costs a few hundred dollars a year and asks nothing of your capital. CM2H buys convenience and a longer horizon, not a materially better legal status.
Sources:General Department of Immigration, Ministry of InteriorCambodia My 2nd Home (CM2H) — programme siteInvestment Migration Insider — Cambodia My 2nd Home
On the ground

Where you'd land in Cambodia

Phnom Penh

Cheap, fast-changing Mekong capital where dollars and riel circulate side by side.

Full Phnom Penh guide
Siem Reap

Angkor's small, cheap town — one industry, two seasons, and free temple entry after two years' residence.

Full Siem Reap guide

Cambodia at a glance

Capital
Phnom Penh
Population
17.8M
Languages
Khmer
Currency
KHR