Cambodia Visa for Canadians, How do Canadian Citizens Get a Cambodia Visa?
When traveling around the world, from one country to another, the one thing you will always need, aside from your passport, is a visa. Without obtaining a visa, you are unlikely to be able to get into the country you want to visit, unless your own nation has a visa-free exemption there. Visas are an important part of traveling, and many people misunderstand what they need and how to obtain it.
Do Canadian Citizens Need a Cambodia Visa for a Cambodia Visit?
Since there is no agreement between Canada and Cambodia for visa-free travel, all Canadian citizens need a visa to enter Cambodia for purposes of tourism. The visa for Cambodia normally costs from US$ 30 per person, and often has additional processing fees attached to it, depending on where it is obtained. There are normally three ways one can apply for a visa: at an Embassy, online, or on arrival in Cambodia.
How Do Canadian Citizens Apply for a Cambodia Visa?
While there are, normally, three ways in which to get a visa for Cambodia, for Canadian citizens, there are only two. Canada does not have an embassy for Cambodia, and unless you want to travel all the way to Boston, Philadelphia, or Seattle to process the application there, and then go back a week later to get the visa, the best options are through the online E-visa website or at the airport when you arrive in Cambodia.
The E-visa is Cambodia’s newest option for processing your visa application, and is becoming a popular option, especially with the issues that some travelers can face at the land border checkpoints. However, the Visa On Arrival is still the most popular option for Canadian travelers to Cambodia, especially for those traveling through the airports at Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The queues are not normally that long at the visa desks, and most travelers can get through visa issuance and immigration in under an hour.
Cambodia Visa Requirements for Canadian Citizens
The requirements for applying for the visa for Cambodia vary very little from those of Americans and other nations when obtaining a visa for Cambodia. A current valid passport is required, with at least six month’s validity left at the expected date of travel. You will also need to make sure you have at least two blank visa pages in the passport for the visa stickers, and you will need two recent passport-sized photos on a plain background.
Canada passport
The fee for the visa does vary from the officially announced amount of US$ 30, as additional processing fees are applied, and these can vary depending on how you apply for the visa. On average, the actual cost is around 36-37 dollars, although it can be as much as 40 dollars in some places.
It should be noted that there are a large number of websites that offer to obtain your visa for you, for an additional fee, to save you having to do it yourself. While this can be a time-saving option for those who are very busy, it is definitely not worth the expense when you consider that the E-visa process takes just a few minutes, and the other option of Visa On Arrival requires no prior work except to get your photo taken. And even that is not a necessity.
Many of the websites that offer this service to Canadian citizens use the fact that there is no Cambodian Embassy in Canada, and charge anywhere from US$ 60 to US$ 125 for obtaining an E-visa that can be done personally in less than 30 minutes, at a cost of just US$ 37. It is advised to avoid these websites, and either apply for the E-visa yourself, or obtain your visa when you get to Cambodia, as explained below, to avoid these extortionate costs.
Cambodia Visa for Canadian Citizens at the Embassy
As we previously mentioned, there is no Embassy or Consulate of Cambodia in Canada, so obtaining a visa the traditional way before you leave home is not possible. There is the option, however, if you really want to obtain a visa before entering from an embassy, to make the application in another country before traveling to Cambodia. Canadian citizens, as long as they can provide proof of address, can apply for a visa at any embassy or consulate around the world, so you can always apply for it at the country you visit before Cambodia. However, this can be time consuming, and the processing time is not always clear and kept to. In the interests of ensuring your trip does not go awry, it is best to opt for one of the other two options to apply for your visa.
Cambodia E-visa for Canadian Citizens
The E-visa is the latest in Cambodia’s promotion of tourism, and was designed to make the application of visas easier for those who do not have an embassy or consulate of Cambodia in their home country. The processing time is just three business days, and the application process is simple and fast.
The website for the application of the E-visa is an official government website, and application for E-visas should only be made from the official website to avoid scams and extortionate fees. The web address for the official website is https://www.evisa.gov.kh/ and once there the application is easy.
Canada e-visa
Once on the home page of the site, simply start the application process, and the site will ask you to create an account. This is very useful for those who may want to travel again, and will need another E-visa for Cambodia, as your application details are held in your account, and make the next application for a visa even faster.
Once you have filled out the application form with all your information, you will be asked to upload a photo for the visa. You can do this by simply having a digital copy of your passport photo, or taking a photo of a hard-copy photo, and resizing it to be two inches square before uploading it. You will then be passed to the government’s payment gateway to pay for your visa.
Payment for the visa online can only be done with a VISA or MasterCard credit card, and the system does not accept other card types. There is no other payment option available either, so holders of VISA or MasterCard credit cards can only apply for the E-visa. However, the cardholder’s name does not have to match the applicant’s name, so another family member with a valid card can make the payment for you. The cost of the E-visa is the standard US$ 30, and there is an additional six-dollar processing fee.
Once paid, you will receive your E-visa through your email as an “invitation letter”, which you can then download and print as your valid E-visa. It is advisable to print at least two copies, as the immigration officials will keep one copy on your entry and will ask to see another copy when you exit the country. The visa is valid for three months from the date of issue, and covers a single-entry stay of not more than 30 days.
Cambodia Visa for Canadian Citizens on Arrival
As with many other nationalities, Canadians can apply for their Cambodia visa at certain entry points to Cambodia as a Visa On Arrival (VOA) application. The VOA system is currently in operation at the airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville (although there have been some reports of travelers at Sihanoukville being denied the VOA). You also have the option of applying for the VOA at the following land border checkpoints from Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam:
Visa on arrival
Laos - Dong Kralor
Thailand - O’smach, Poipet, Prom, Daung, and Cham Yeam
Vietnam - Bavet, Kaom Samnor, Phnom Denh, Trapaing Sre, and Tropaing Phlong
The VOA requires Canadian passport holders to have at least six month’s validity on their passports, and at least two blank visa pages. You will also need to have a passport-sized photo on a plain background, though if you forget to have the photo taken, the immigration officials will scan the one in your passport and use that, for a fee of around two dollars. when traveling by flight, the application form is given on the plane to be filled in before you land, making your processing time faster.
For those entering the country through the airports, there are ATMs near the immigration desks, which dispense US dollars for payment of the visa fee, if you do not have US dollars with you. The US dollar is the unofficial currency of Cambodia, and all visa applicants are required to pay in dollars. However, the ATMs do charge high fees for transactions (normally around five dollars per transaction), so carrying at least enough for the visa fee is advised. The cost of the visa at the airports is US$ 30, with a seven dollar processing fee. Do not expect change if you do not give them exact money, as they will not give it.
When entering through the land border checkpoints, the visa process is just as simple. The application only takes a few minutes to complete, and is not complicated. Once complete, hand it to the officials when you get to the head of the queue, along with your passport and photo, and step back to wait to be called. If you do not have the photo, the officials will use your passport photo for the two dollar additional fee.
It is important to be aware that there are a number of “scams” that operate at the land border checkpoints, which are really not worth arguing over. The cost of the visa is normally just thirty dollars at the land borders, but officials often add additional “fees” to the cost, of anything between 1-10 dollars. This is comparable with the processing fee in the airports, and can be called anything from a “processing” fee to a “night entry” fee or a “weekend” fee.
The main scam to watch for is when traveling from Thailand, as officials on the Thai border checkpoints will ask you to pay in Thai baht, and tell you the price is 1,500 baht. This is around 45 US dollars, which is much higher, but you can politely and smilingly ask to pay in dollars, and only pay the normal amount. Officials do not usually argue about it much, but it is worth watching out for.
You also need to be alert at the borders and airports, as the officials sometimes struggle to pronounce western names, so just hold up the passport with the photo facing out to call you to collect your visa. Do not stray far from the immigration desk, or you may miss your turn.
Cambodia Visa Extension for Canadian Citizens
Cambodia visas can be extended once only, and for a period of thirty days. The fee for processing an extension is officially 45 dollars, but that is not normally all you will pay. The visa can be extended at the main office of the Department of Immigration, which is situated outside Phnom Penh International Airport, at 322 Russian Federation Boulevard.
Processing at the immigration office can take a long time, however, and the return time for the visa can be as long as ten days. It can also cost a little extra in local “fees” to process the visa in the fastest time possible, which will not be less than five days.
One option for faster processing is to use one of the hundreds of travel agents in Phnom Penh that will process your visa extension for you, for a small fee of course. Simply provide your passport, photo, and fill in their visa extension application form, and they will do the rest, and call you when it is ready for collection. It normally takes three days, although some can get it done even faster. You should also make sure that you agree on the fee for the transaction at the start of the deal, as it is likely to go higher than you expected if you do not. And it is okay to haggle over the price, as this is often expected. Once agreed, that is all you will pay them, and the agents are normally very honest on this.
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