Cambodia

Cambodia has no visa built for remote workers. Short visits run on visa exemptions or the tourist visa, longer stays on the ordinary visa system, and the one route with a full page here is naturalization for investors and donors.

Short stays

No general visa-free entry. Ordinary passports of the 9 other ASEAN states (14 or 30 days), the Maldives (30 days) and Seychelles (15 days) are exempt; everyone else needs a Tourist Visa (T class), by e-Visa or on arrival, for a 30-day stay.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' visa exemption list can change, and temporary schemes for single nationalities come and go, so it is worth checking before travel.

The tourist visa (T class) is single entry and valid for three months, for a stay of 30 days, according to the Royal Embassy in London. It is sold online through the official e-Visa portal and on arrival.

Longer stays

The London embassy lists a business visa (E class) on the same basic terms: single entry, three months' validity and a 30-day stay. Long stays generally run on this ordinary visa, extended inside Cambodia by the General Department of Immigration.

The extension types, lengths and fees weren't confirmed from an official page for this guide, and the E class has no page here yet. Anyone planning a long stay should check current terms with the department before relying on them.

Investors and donors

The citizenship route for investors and donors is naturalization under the Law on Nationality, decided by Royal Decree at the government's discretion. Ordinary naturalization requires 7 years of continuous residence from the issue of a residence card; qualifying investors are exempt from that period.

A sub-decree of Dec. 1, 2025 revised the investment and donation thresholds, but its official text hadn't been published on a government site when this guide was checked, so no figure is given here. The route suits few nomads: it is a change of nationality, not a residence permit, and the 1996 law asks applicants to speak Khmer.

How to choose

• A trip of a few weeks: a visa exemption, if the passport has one, or the tourist visa.
• A base for months: the E class visa with extensions, after confirming current terms.
• A permanent move with capital: the naturalization route, once the 2025 rules are published in full.

Numbeo quotes Cambodian prices in US dollars, and so does this section. The ranges add two Numbeo figures for one person: monthly spending before rent, plus a one-bedroom apartment from outside the center to the center. Numbeo's figures are crowd-sourced and were last updated in September 2026.

Monthly budgets for one person

• Phnom Penh: about $980 to $1,250 a month, combining $622 in living costs with $361 to $630 in rent.
• Siem Reap: about $790 to $880, combining $550 in living costs with $235 to $334 in rent.
• Sihanoukville: Numbeo has rent data only, $300 to $400 for a one-bedroom, and not enough entries for a monthly living-cost estimate.

Rent explains most of the gap between the capital and Siem Reap: a central one-bedroom in Phnom Penh costs nearly twice the Siem Reap figure, while living costs before rent differ by about $70.

What the figures leave out

Numbeo's estimate covers everyday spending such as food, transport and utilities. Visa extension fees, health insurance, coworking and flights come on top, and none of them is in these ranges.

Three places cover most long stays, with very different costs.

Phnom Penh

The capital suits people who want coworking, services and the most flights. It is also the most expensive: a central one-bedroom averaged $630 a month on Numbeo in September 2026.

Siem Reap

The gateway to Angkor suits people who want a smaller, slower base. Central rent averaged $334 a month, a little over half the Phnom Penh figure, with living costs before rent around $550.

Sihanoukville

The coastal city suits people who want the sea. Numbeo shows one-bedroom rents of $300 to $400 but too few entries for a full budget, so costs there are harder to pin down.

Kampot is a smaller riverside option near the coast with a city page here, but no Numbeo data in this guide's set.

The border town of Poipet sits inside the zone near Thailand where the UK government advises against travel that isn't strictly necessary; see the safety notes below.

Mobile data is Cambodia's strong point. The Speedtest Global Index put the median mobile download speed at 207.43 Mbps in August 2026, well ahead of the fixed broadband median of 81.84 Mbps.

That gap makes a local SIM or eSIM a sensible backup, and sometimes the main connection, for video calls. Fixed-line speeds vary by building, so checking the connection before signing a lease pays off.

Coworking

Phnom Penh has the most choice. Impact Hub Phnom Penh offers coworking space in the capital.

Cambodia decides tax residency by home or days. Under Article 5 of the Law on Taxation (2023), a person is a resident if they live in or have their principal place of abode in Cambodia, or are present for more than 182 days in any 12-month period ending in the tax year.

The 12-month window rolls. Older descriptions of a calendar-year test describe the previous law.

What residents are taxed on

Residents are taxed on income from Cambodian and foreign sources; non-residents only on Cambodian-source income (Article 4). For residents, salary tax covers foreign salary at progressive monthly rates from 0% to 20%, with a credit for tax already paid abroad when proof is provided (Articles 41, 47 and 50). Non-residents' Cambodian salary is taxed at a flat 20% withheld by the payer (Article 49).

No special regime

No official source gives remote workers, retirees or naturalized investors a special tax regime.

What to check

• Whether a stay will pass the day count in any 12-month window, or whether a Cambodian home makes a person resident sooner.
• How foreign salary or other foreign income would be declared, and what proof of foreign tax the credit needs.
• Whether the home country has a tax treaty with Cambodia.

The English text cited here is an unofficial translation hosted by India's embassy in Phnom Penh; the Khmer text governs, and this section doesn't replace advice on a specific case.

Arrival

The General Department of Immigration says all travelers can submit the Cambodia e-Arrival form within seven days before arrival or on arrival, free of charge. Tourist visas are sold through the official e-Visa portal at evisa.gov.kh.

Customs

The Royal Embassy in London asks visitors to remove shoes and hats before entering a pagoda or the Royal Palace, to dress modestly at sacred sites and to leave shoes at the door of a home. The traditional greeting, the sampeah, presses the palms together with a slight bow.

Safety

The UK government travel advice (still current Sept. 23, 2026) warns against all travel that isn't strictly necessary within 20 km of the land border with Thailand. Heavy fighting took place along parts of the border in 2025; a ceasefire was signed on Dec. 27, but the situation remains tense.

Land crossings between Cambodia and Thailand remain suspended, and unexploded ordnance, including landmines, remains in the border area. Overland trips to Thailand aren't possible for now.