Issue · September 2026 · everything a nomad needs, city by city

Nomadzine

The visa · Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia has no visa expressly for remote workers. Almost every nomad enters on the US$35 Ordinary (Type E) visa and extends it in-country under the EB business category for six or twelve months at a time, with no income test. The thing to know before applying is that the Ministry of Labour treats foreigners earning income while physically in Cambodia as self-employed and expects a work permit, while enforcement against remote workers serving foreign clients is reported as patchy.

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The routes

Researched 6 September 2026 · rules as of September 2026 · as published, not legal advice

  1. Long stay

    Ordinary Visa (Type E) with EB Extension of Stay

    Ordinary Visa, Type E (also called the business visa) with an Extension of Stay in the EB category

    The default route for remote workers, freelancers and anyone planning to stay longer than two months; it is the only practical long-stay path for people without a Cambodian employer, retirement status or student place.

    Income floor
    none published: no income, savings or employer letter is required for the initial visa; the EB extension is in practice issued on request through immigration or an agent, with a letter or company document sometimes asked for
    Duration
    30 days on entry, single entry; extendable in-country for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months; the 6- and 12-month extensions are multiple-entry, the 1- and 3-month ones single-entry; renewable indefinitely so far as published
    Cost
    US$35 for the visa (e-visa or on arrival; cut from US$42 on 1 January 2025); 12-month multiple-entry extension US$180 official fee as reported by one guide, with agents charging roughly US$250 to US$300 and one nomad guide quoting about US$285 all-in
    Processing
    e-visa about 1 to 3 business days; visa on arrival immediate; extensions typically a week or two through an agent, with no statutory time published
    Eligibility
    open to all nationalities as published; passport valid at least six months with a blank page; no insurance, income or criminal-record condition is published for the visa itself
    Work rights
    The visa itself confers no work rights. Working for a Cambodian employer needs a sponsored work permit. The Ministry of Labour regards foreigners working while in Cambodia, including for clients abroad, as self-employed and requiring a work permit; several guides report that remote workers on the EB extension often do not hold one and that enforcement is limited
    Dependants
    No family sub-category is published; a spouse or child holds their own Type E visa and extension on the same terms
    Leads to
    no: extensions of stay do not in themselves confer permanent residence, and no path to citizenship from this route was verified
    Apply
    Visa online at the government e-visa portal or on arrival at international airports and main land borders; extensions at the Department of Immigration in Phnom Penh, in practice almost always through a visa agent or travel office

    Documents Passport valid six months or more with a blank page · Digital passport photo for the e-visa · Visa fee in US dollars · Completed e-Arrival card before landing · For the extension: passport with the current E visa and, through an agent, a passport photo and the fee

    Official page →

  2. Freelance / self-employed

    Self-employed work permit (FWCMS)

    Work permit and employment card for self-employed foreigners under Prakas No. 366/23, Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training

    Freelancers and remote workers who want to be regularised rather than rely on non-enforcement, and anyone whose name appears on a Cambodian patent tax certificate or sole proprietorship

    Income floor
    none published
    Duration
    Annual card expiring 31 December; renewal each year with a 31 March deadline; new arrivals are expected to apply within 90 days of entry
    Cost
    Disputed between sources: one guide reports roughly US$100 to US$200 a year, another US$100 to US$300 depending on nationality plus US$30 to US$50 for the medical check; no official fee schedule was verified
    Processing
    Reported at 2 to 4 weeks, or 1 to 2 weeks through an agent
    Eligibility
    Holder of an E-class visa; a health certificate from an approved clinic; proof of self-employment such as a patent tax certificate or sole proprietorship registration; the 90 percent Cambodian-workforce quota applies to employers rather than to the self-employed
    Work rights
    Permits self-employed work in Cambodia, including local clients, on the activity registered; working without one is reported to carry a fine of about KHR 12.6 million (about US$3,150) under Article 264 of the Labour Law, with deportation possible
    Dependants
    Not applicable; each working adult needs their own permit
    Leads to
    no
    Apply
    Online through the Foreign Workforce Centralized Management System run by the Ministry of Labour, or via a local agent

    Documents Passport valid six months or more · Current E-class visa · Recent health certificate from an approved clinic · Proof of self-employment or patent tax certificate · Passport photos (4 x 6 cm)

    Official page →

  3. Temporary stay

    Tourist Visa (Type T)

    Tourist Visa, Type T

    Short scouting trips of up to two months; unsuitable as a base because it cannot be converted to a long extension in-country

    Income floor
    none
    Duration
    30 days single entry; one extension of 30 days; maximum 60 days
    Cost
    US$30 for the visa (cut from US$36 on 1 January 2025); US$30 for the single extension
    Processing
    e-visa about 1 to 3 business days; on arrival immediate; extension 2 to 3 business days at the Immigration Department in Phnom Penh
    Eligibility
    All nationalities as published; passport valid six months
    Work rights
    None; remote work for foreign clients on a tourist visa is not addressed in any published rule and is reported as tolerated in practice
    Dependants
    Each traveller holds their own visa
    Leads to
    no
    Apply
    Government e-visa portal or on arrival

    Documents Passport valid six months with a blank page · Digital passport photo · Visa fee in US dollars

    Official page →

Without a visa, by passport

The stay you get on arrival, and whether working remotely on it is tolerated

  • EU / EEA / Switzerlandvisa required: e-visa or on arrival, US$30 tourist or US$35 ordinary, 30 daysRemote work on the tourist visa is not addressed in published rules and is reported as tolerated; the Ministry of Labour's self-employed work-permit rule is the grey area for longer stays on an EB extension
  • United Kingdomvisa required: e-visa or on arrival, 30 daysSame position as above; grey, with enforcement reported as limited for remote workers serving foreign clients
  • United Statesvisa required: e-visa or on arrival, 30 daysSame position; grey
  • Canadavisa required: e-visa or on arrival, 30 daysSame position; grey
  • Australiavisa required: e-visa or on arrival, 30 daysSame position; grey
  • Indiavisa required: e-visa or on arrival, 30 daysSame position; grey
  • Brazilvisa required: e-visa or on arrival, 30 daysSame position; grey
  • South Africavisa required: e-visa or on arrival, 30 daysSame position; grey
  • Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Maldivesvisa-free, 30 daysVisa-free entry carries no work rights; remote work is unaddressed and reported as tolerated
  • Thailandvisa-free, 7 days (cut from longer in June 2025 during the border dispute)Too short to matter for remote work; longer stays need a visa
  • China, Hong Kong, Macauvisa-free, 14 days, multiple entry, pilot from 15 June to 15 October 2026 onlyTemporary exemption; no work rights

Tax

When the country starts counting you as its taxpayer

Residency trigger
An individual is tax resident if domiciled in Cambodia, if their principal place of abode is in Cambodia, or if present for more than 182 days; PwC states the count over any 12-month period while Acclime states it within the calendar tax year (1 January to 31 December), so the exact window is described differently between advisers. Residents are taxed on worldwide salary income on a progressive scale of 0 to 20 percent (0 percent up to KHR 1.5 million a month, 5 percent to KHR 2 million, 10 percent to KHR 8.5 million, 15 percent to KHR 12.5 million, 20 percent above); non-residents pay a flat 20 percent on Cambodian-source income only. Annual filing is reported as due by 31 March. Foreign tax credits are available with proof of foreign tax paid.
Special regime
none: there is no nomad, newcomer or flat-rate regime
Social security
Employees on a Cambodian payroll contribute 2.6 percent of salary to the National Social Security Fund for healthcare, with the employer paying 2.6 percent plus pension contributions. The self-employed NSSF scheme requires a Khmer identity card, so foreign freelancers cannot join it. Remote employees of foreign companies are outside the Cambodian payroll system; no totalisation or certificate-of-coverage agreements were found.
Treaties
Double-taxation agreements are in force with Singapore, China, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Korea; Macau and Turkey were awaiting ratification and the Philippines has signed; there is no treaty with the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada or most EU states. For a remote employee or contractor from a non-treaty country who becomes resident, relief depends on Cambodia's unilateral foreign tax credit and the home country's own rules.

Practicalities

Bank account
Possible on a passport and valid visa without a work permit at the major banks (ABA, ACLEDA, Canadia). ABA asks for proof of residential status: a lease or residence certificate of at least six months, a multiple-entry visa with intent to stay about 182 days a year, or six months of employment. An initial deposit of around US$500 is reported. Accounts run in US dollars and riel; KHQR mobile payment is widespread.
SIM registration
A passport is required at the point of sale; the operator records the registration with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Smart, Cellcard and Metfone sell tourist and monthly data packages for a few US dollars.
Health insurance
Not a condition of any visa or extension. Nomad guides advise cover that includes medical evacuation to Bangkok or Singapore, as serious cases are treated outside the country.
Address registration (FPCS)
Landlords and hotels must register every foreign guest in the police Foreigners Present in Cambodia System within 24 hours; the registration deadline for existing tenants was 21 February 2025. The fine for a landlord who fails to register is reported at KHR 30,000 per foreigner by one source and KHR 400,000 (about US$100) by reporting from March 2026. Tenants should check the landlord has done it, as it is asked for at extension time.
Tax number
Individuals on a Cambodian payroll are registered through the employer; a self-employed foreigner registering a sole proprietorship or patent tax certificate is registered with the General Department of Taxation as part of that process. No separate personal tax number step for nomads was verified.
e-Arrival card
A digital arrival card submitted one to seven days before arrival is mandatory, with a v-Pass issued by email or app at international airports; one nomad guide dates the mandate to 1 September 2026, which was not verified on the official portal.
Overstay
US$10 per day. Under 30 days the fine is paid on exit at the airport or border. Over 30 days it must be pre-cleared with a US$30 exit visa at the Phnom Penh visa office, taking 2 to 3 business days, with detention, deportation and an entry ban of up to five years reported for long overstays.

Cambodia: no nomad visa, but a cheap one-year Ordinary visa and a work-permit rule that is still being felt out

Where remote workers base and why

Phnom Penh takes most long-stayers: the BKK1 and Russian Market districts have the coworking spaces, the international clinics and the banks, with a one-bedroom flat reported at US$350 to US$550 a month and total budgets a little over US$900 to US$1,300. Siem Reap is cheaper and slower, built around a handful of coworking spaces near Wat Bo, and studios are reported from US$70 to US$180. Kampot draws people who want river and hills over infrastructure.

Sihanoukville has the lowest rents but nomad guides advise against it because of organised crime around the casino economy. Fixed broadband averages around 50 Mbps and coworking spaces advertise up to 100 Mbps; mobile data is cheap and adequate for calls outside the cities.

What applicants report about the process

The visa is the easy part. The e-visa returns in one to three business days and the ordinary visa is granted on arrival to anyone who asks for it and pays US$35. Extensions are done by agents who hold the passport for a week or two; the official 12-month multiple-entry fee is quoted at US$180 and the all-in agent price at roughly US$250 to US$300. Nobody reports refusals of the EB extension for lack of an employer.

The work-permit rule is where accounts diverge. The Ministry of Labour's position since Prakas No. 366/23 is that self-employed foreigners, which is how it classifies remote workers, must register through the FWCMS and renew by 31 March each year, with a fine of about KHR 12.6 million for working without a permit. Local reporting in February 2026 described the framework as still evolving, with some nomads holding self-employed permits and others relying on the long visa alone on the argument that their economic activity is abroad. One guide notes that anyone whose name appears on a patent tax certificate is expected to hold a permit within a week.

Three separate fee figures circulate for the permit, from US$100 to US$300 a year plus a medical check, and no official schedule was verified. Landlords' registration of foreign tenants in the FPCS app is now asked for at extension time, so a landlord who has not registered can delay a renewal.

Banking and daily money

The economy runs on US dollars with riel for small change, and QR payment is universal in the cities. Foreigners open accounts on a passport and visa at ABA, ACLEDA or Canadia, but banks now run real residency checks: ABA wants a six-month lease or residence certificate, or a multiple-entry visa with an intent to stay around 182 days, or six months of employment. Stand-alone ATMs charge US$4 to US$5 a withdrawal, so most people use in-branch machines or a local account.

Tax position

More than 182 days in Cambodia makes a person tax resident, taxed on worldwide salary income at 0 to 20 percent, with non-residents paying a flat 20 percent on Cambodian-source income only. There is no special regime for newcomers. The treaty network is thin and Asian: Singapore, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, Brunei and Hong Kong, with nothing for the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada or most of the EU, so relief for those nationals rests on Cambodia's foreign tax credit and home rules. The self-employed social-security scheme requires a Khmer identity card and is closed to foreigners.

What is changing

The direction of travel since 2025 is registration rather than restriction: the FPCS address database, the FWCMS work-permit portal with its March deadline, the digital arrival card, and tighter bank know-your-customer checks. Fees moved the other way, with the visa cut in January 2025. No digital-nomad visa has been announced, and the open question for September 2026 is whether the Ministry of Labour begins enforcing the self-employed permit against remote workers on EB extensions rather than only against those on a Cambodian tax certificate.

Researched from evisa.gov.kh · fwcms.mlvt.gov.kh · taxsummaries.pwc.com · cambodia.acclime.com · wondersofcambodia.com · stampednomad.com · stampednomad.com · siemreaphub.com · cambodiago.com · en.wikipedia.org · the authority