Cambodia (KH)

Submit Cambodia e-Arrival

All travelers should submit the official Cambodia e-Arrival before entering Cambodia, even if they already have a visa.

Apply for foreign work permit and employment card

Foreigners working in Cambodia need a work permit and foreign employment card. Employers or self-employed applicants use FWCMS.

Plan birth registration for children born in Cambodia

Foreign parents need Cambodian birth records, embassy registration, passport, visa/extension, and insurance for the child.

Check school/NGO safeguarding standards

Any child-facing role should have background checks, policies, reporting lines, and training.

Confirm FPCS accommodation registration

Landlords/hotels are expected to register foreigner accommodation details. Missing records can complicate visa extensions.

Plan departure with visa, tax, lease, and bank timing

Leaving Cambodia cleanly means settling lease, deposit, utilities, taxes, work permit, school, bank, and vehicle matters.

Create a Cambodia document vault

Keep searchable scans of passport, visa pages, e-Arrival QR, lease, insurance, work permit, licence, school records, and emergency contacts.

Do an annual Cambodia admin review

Review visa, work permit, passport, lease, insurance, tax, NSSF, school, bank KYC, and emergency fund each January.

Set up clean USD and riel cash habits

Cambodia uses USD and riel side by side. Torn or marked USD notes are often refused.

Open a Cambodian bank account

A local account unlocks KHQR payments, rent transfers, salary, delivery, and easy daily life.

Buy a local SIM card

A Cambodian phone number is needed for banking, delivery, ride-hailing, landlords, schools, visa agents, and emergency contact.

Install reliable home internet

Remote work and family life depend on stable fibre plus mobile backup during outages.

Set up safe drinking water and food habits

Use filtered/bottled water and choose busy food stalls to reduce stomach illness.

Join one trusted community group

Cambodia runs on referrals. Good groups help with doctors, housing, drivers, schools, and warnings.

Activate KHQR / Bakong-linked payments

QR payments are used by cafes, markets, landlords, tuk-tuks, clinics, schools, and shops.

Apply early for international schools

Premium schools and popular year groups fill early, and school commute should drive housing choice.

Review employment contract and visa support

Check salary, tax withholding, NSSF, work permit cost, visa extension support, probation, notice, leave, insurance, school allowance, and termination terms.

Arrange childcare and emergency pickup plan

Nursery, nanny, school bus, and traffic plans matter daily in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Choose your emergency hospital before you need it

Ambulance and emergency quality vary. Know where you would go for trauma, child fever, pregnancy, dental, and evacuation.

Check medication availability and legality

Medicine quality and availability vary. Chronic, psychiatric, ADHD, pain, and sleep medication need advance planning.

Carry a bilingual emergency card

A Khmer/English card with allergies, insurer, hospital, embassy, and family contacts helps when you cannot speak.

Prepare for heat, smoke, and poor air days

Dry-season smoke, dust, heat, and construction pollution can affect children, asthma, pregnancy, and outdoor work.

Use temporary housing before signing a lease

Traffic, flooding, noise, construction, and electricity costs vary block by block.

Check lease electricity rate before signing

Landlord-billed electricity can be a major hidden cost, especially with air conditioning.

Photograph move-in condition and meters

Deposits are much safer when you document furniture, walls, appliances, AC, leaks, and meters on day one.

Plan for rainy-season flooding

Flooding affects streets, ground-floor homes, motorcycles, school pickup, and deliveries.

Enter on the correct visa type

Tourist visas are for tourism. If you plan to work, retire long term, study, or extend repeatedly, enter on an ordinary E-class visa where eligible.

Set visa and work permit renewal reminders

Overstay fines and renewal problems are avoidable with reminders 90, 60, 30, and 14 days before expiry.

Keep 6-12 months passport validity

Visa extensions, bank KYC, school records, and regional trips can fail when passport validity is short.

Buy health insurance with evacuation cover

Cambodia's private clinics are useful, but serious emergencies may require evacuation to Thailand, Singapore, or Vietnam.

Learn survival Khmer

Basic Khmer improves markets, transport, rent, repairs, greetings, and medical situations.

Enrol in a Structured Khmer Language Course

Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ) is unrelated to any European language and uses its own script (47 consonants, 23 vowels). Even basic spoken Khmer transforms daily life: tuk-tuk and moto negotiations drop from tourist pricing to local rates, landlords and repair services respond faster, and locals visibly appreciate the effort. Structured options in Phnom Penh: Khmer School of Language (Tonle Bassac area, group classes $3–5/hour), ELT Cambodia, and private tutors via Expat.com or Facebook groups ($8–20/hour). Online: Mondly Khmer (basic), YouTube channels by Southeast Asian language teachers. Script literacy is optional for short stays but valuable for street navigation and menus.

Avoid orphanage tourism and unsafe volunteering

Short-term unvetted volunteering with children can cause harm and may indicate exploitative organisations.

Know your lost-passport process

Passport loss can trigger police report, embassy emergency document, visa transfer, and bank access problems.

Arrange pet import and heat safety

Pets need paperwork before travel and careful heat/traffic/street-dog management after arrival.

Register with a Phnom Penh or Siem Reap Vet and Do Annual Vaccinations

Cambodia has a small but growing network of quality veterinary clinics in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Essential vaccinations for pets in Cambodia: rabies (annual — Cambodia is NOT rabies-free), DHPP/FVRCP (annual boosters), heartworm prevention (monthly tablet or injection), and tick/flea prevention (monthly — endemic year-round). Recommended Phnom Penh vets: Animal Clinic of Cambodia (Russian Market area, English-speaking), Vets in Practice (BKK1, Australian-trained), Royal Vet Clinic (Toul Kork). Siem Reap: Angkor Animal Hospital. Vet consultation: $15–40; annual vaccination package: $40–80.

Confirm Pet Permission in Lease and Plan for Heat and Street Dogs

Pet-friendly rental housing in Cambodia requires explicit lease clause confirmation — many Phnom Penh landlords prohibit pets or impose additional deposits (typically $100–300). Finding pet-friendly housing is easier in villas and ground-floor properties than apartment towers. Daily safety concerns: Cambodia's street dog population carries rabies and leptospirosis — keep pets away from strays; muzzle dogs on walks in areas with high stray density. Heat management: Cambodia's 35–40°C heat (March–May peak) is dangerous for thick-coated breeds; ensure air-conditioned sleeping areas. Platforms for pet-friendly housing: Realestate.com.kh, 855 Space, and Facebook groups "Expat Housing Phnom Penh/Siem Reap" allow pet filtering.

Register with your home country's embassy

Embassy registration helps with emergency alerts, passport replacement, crisis contact, and voting.

Install Grab, PassApp, and TADA

Ride-hailing apps reduce price negotiation and help with safety, rainy season, and late-night travel.

Get a Cambodian driving licence if driving

Long-term residents driving cars or motorbikes should obtain the correct Cambodian licence category.

Buy a real helmet and check motorbike insurance

Motorbike accidents are a top expat risk. Cheap helmets and invalid licences are false economy.

Confirm NSSF registration if formally employed

Registered workers may access NSSF healthcare, work-injury, and pension-related schemes.

Build and Maintain a Cambodia Emergency Fund (3 Months Expenses)

Cambodia's limited social safety net for expats — no public unemployment benefit, no national healthcare entitlement, no rental assistance — makes a personal emergency fund essential. Target: 3 months of all fixed expenses (rent, utilities, insurance, food, school fees) held in a liquid, accessible form. USD cash or a USD savings account at a Cambodian bank (ABA, ACLEDA, or Canadia Bank) with same-day withdrawal access. Cambodian banks pay 4–7% on 3–12 month USD term deposits (2026 rates) — worth parking 2 months of the emergency fund in a term deposit while keeping 1 month in instant-access savings.