While applying for Vietnam e-Visas for our group was fairly annoying (an unclear website, weird payment funnels, and having to do separate applications for each person), and Laos visas are arranged on arrival, getting Cambodia visas in advance was basically delightful.
Continue reading: Applying For A Cambodia E-Visa With A US Passport
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Agree that it is worth doing. I don't recall any issues with the Vietnam evisa I got a few months ago
I was actually surprised how easy it was doing through the Cambodian government. Their help desk was really good too, and their written English was excellent. I was shocked at how great a government agency could work.
I don't think it is worth it. It is definitely not an hour wait to get a visa on arrival, I've never waited more than 10 mins with a US passport. It's been so fast I still end up waiting for my luggage at the carousel. No point in the extra work and cost to do eVisa.
I didn’t know about this option when my wife and I flew into Phnom Penh in January. It took about 20 minutes to get our visa on arrival. More options are always better.
I recently got approved for a Cambodian E-VISA through this exact process. When I purchased the visa for $36 it took the money out of my bank but then put it back a few days later. The transaction wasn’t actually processed for another week so it appeared I had an extra $36 in my bank that I didn’t have. It’s good to know that beforehand because If this happens to you, make sure to keep at least that amount in your bank, it will disappear again later when they finalize the transaction.
Agreed. Very easy process when arriving to Siem Reap with an E-visa. Proceeded directly to immigration. Glad that I didn't have to wait behind huge tour groups who were going about getting visa on arrival.
This kind of step-by-step breakdown would be helpful for other nations' evisa application processes (say, India's, which took a lot of online sleuthing to figure out).
I travel to Cambodia 1-2 times per year on business. It is a wonderful country with a very easy e-visa process....basically, they get their money and have a good idea who is in their country and you get in effortlessly. I definitely recommend e-visa as opposed to visa on arrival for convenience. I only wish multiple entry visas were more readily available.
Oh. My. God... is this for real? I laughing my butt off right now, but also feel bad for all of the “Visa Services” employees. In Cambodia, these are usually paid positions(people pay the government to get the position) and they pocket most of the money they get from tourist!
Vietnam evisa hard? You want someone to do it for you?
I completed the Vietnam evisa application on line this past Friday and had my visa pdf by Monday, even though they stated it might take 3 business days. It was cheaper as well. ymmv.
@ Tonymike -- I said it was annoying (which is was, especially if you're doing it for four), not hard. I'm pretty good at this stuff 😉
I've done this each time I went to Cambodia. It's worked great, and another benefit is that if you get an evisa, they do not take an entire passport page for the visa, it's just an ordinary stamp like most other countries
It's sort of a waste of money to apply online visa in advance; it usually only saves you 5 or 10 minutes at most, but you spend that long doing it online.
I entered Cambodia from Vietnam on a bus with an evisa in hand. The vast majority—actually, I think it was all of them—of the other people got their visa at the crossing. It didn’t seem to put me at any advantage to already have my visa but I’d say it can’t hurt to get it dealt with before arriving.
We flew in to Siem Reap from Phuket via AirAsia. Nothing arranged ahead of time. No problems at all didnt even have the copies of my passport picture and it did not seem to matter. The kindness we encountered here was unlike any other place we have visited. Our english speaking guides were so honest and open, even so much as to speak openly about our cultures and politics. Our conversations were unexpectedly insightful.
I blame a trip through the old market in Siem Reap for the Noro Virus that got my wife. I then got it from her, just in time for a 13 1/2 hour CAN to LAX flight that I will never forget nor probably the flight attendants. It got me a ride up front in a lie down but the bodily theatrics it required was not worth the cost.
I was impressed at the speed of processing and how straightforward it was to get it done. As a bonus you can apply for multiple family members at once. Vietnam had to submit one at a time including separate payment. Either way, why wouldn't you take a few minutes to get it in advance, it is one less variable to deal with upon arrival?
I did this online today--the process to enter information for two persons took about 15 minutes using scanned passport photos, and it took exactly one hour to receive the eVisa approval and files by email. Thanks for this great information!
Important note --- while the website will let you fill in an application and pay for a visa with a date up to a year in advance, it turns out if your arrival date is over three months away they'll simply ignore the application and keep your money. I lost $36 this way, and although my trip is NOW less than 3 months away, I can't seem to get a response from anyone and the application status still says "pending"
I am having the same issue as reader "Linor' above. Applied on Jan 2020 for travel in May and its been more than 2 months and the application still says pending. When I contacted through the chat system the response was it can take up to 3 months for the approval. I definitely would NOT recommend using this service. You might want to warn readers not to apply too soon.
In contrary I applied for the Vietnam visa twice, and in both cases got a response within promised 3 days.