Cambodia

Cambodia runs its entire long stay system through one entry document, the E class ordinary visa, and a set of annual extensions bolted onto it. Nothing in that system leads to permanent residence. The retirement route, which is the cheapest legal long stay in the region, has no financial threshold written into law at all.

Can you stay in Cambodia long term?

Yes, for ten years and beyond, but only as a renewable guest. The permission is granted for 12 months at a time and can be refused at any renewal. There is no permanent residence programme for ordinary foreigners, no residence by investment visa and no digital nomad visa. A person who has paid Cambodian immigration fees for fifteen years holds exactly the same class of permission as someone who arrived last month.

The mechanics are simple. You enter on an E class visa, which gives 30 days, and then convert it inside the country into an extension of stay. The three that matter are EB for business or work, ER for retirement at 55 and over, and EG for a general stay while looking around or looking for work. Each costs roughly USD 290 to 300 a year in fees in 2026, more through an agent. Renewals are annual and indefinite, with fresh evidence each time.

Permanence exists in two forms, and neither is open to a normal applicant. A K visa, for people with a Cambodian parent, is lifetime and free but must be issued abroad with family documents. Naturalisation needs seven consecutive years of legal residence, Khmer language and good conduct, and it is discretionary. Since the 2025 sub-decree the investment version is explicit: USD 1,000,000 in an approved priority sector project, or USD 3,000,000 donated to the national budget, both 2026 figures.

Two corrections matter more than anything else on this page. The ten year retirement visa sold by agencies does not exist as an instrument. It is a 12 month ER renewed ten times, at ten times the fee, with ten chances for the rules to change. And the USD 30,000 in the bank or USD 1,500 a month that agents demand for an ER is agent practice, not law. No prakas sets a figure. The embassy text asks for proof of retirement and proof of means, and three agents will quote three different numbers.

Ways to move to Cambodia

Read the quick read column before the programme name. On every row, the settlement answer is the same, and it is none.

The programmes

Ordinary visa, type E. The base document, not a residence permit. Thirty days on arrival or by e-visa for USD 35 in 2026, convertible inside Cambodia into a one year extension. The mistake that costs people a flight is arriving on a tourist T visa, which cannot be converted at all: you must leave and re-enter on an E.

EB business extension. The working route, open to employees, directors, the self-employed, volunteers and their dependents. No income or capital threshold, about USD 290 to 300 a year in fees, 1 to 12 months at a time. The stamp is not a work permit, and working without the separate Ministry of Labour permit is what causes fines and refused renewals.

ER retirement extension. Available at 55 and over, 1 to 12 months, multiple entry on the 6 and 12 month versions. No statutory financial threshold, only a requirement for proof of retirement and of sufficient means, which is where the invented USD 30,000 rule lives. The cheapest legal long stay in Southeast Asia, and the one most often mis-sold.

EG general extension. A one shot bridge of 1 to 6 months for job seekers and first time visitors who have not committed. Single entry, no dependents, no work rights. Agents sell it as a digital nomad visa. It is not one, and repeated use invites refusal.

Work permit and employment card. The authorisation, separate from the visa, issued by the Ministry of Labour through its online system. USD 100 to 300 a year in 2026 plus a medical certificate, expiring on 31 December whatever month you bought it. Your employer needs a foreign staff quota approved in the previous September to November window before your permit can issue at all.

What Cambodia is bad at

Settlement. There is no permanent residence status, no golden visa and no retirement instrument longer than twelve months, so the answer to “can I stay forever” is a renewal, not a right. The published rules are thin enough that agents set the real requirements at the counter, which is why the same ER stamp costs different amounts at different offices and why the USD 30,000 figure cannot be found in any law. Family rules are poor: a spouse under 55 cannot ride on an ER, and every dependent needs their own visa and their own extension. Work authorisation is a separate, employer owned document with a 31 December expiry and a quota that can block a hire after the contract is signed. And the one route to real permanence, citizenship, has been formalised as a USD 1,000,000 purchase.

Guides

• Ordinary visa, type E: the 30 day entry document, conversions, and the tourist visa trap
• EB business extension: who qualifies, what it costs, and why the stamp is not a work permit
• ER retirement extension: the real requirements, the agent invented threshold, and the ten year visa that does not exist
• EG general extension: the one shot bridge, and why it is not a nomad visa
• Work permit and employment card: the quota, the December expiry, and the second document everyone forgets

Sources

• General Department of Immigration, Ministry of Interior, extension categories and fees, 2026-10-22
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, retirement visa (ER) guidance, 2026-10-22
• Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, Prakas 366/23 on foreign work permits, 2026-10-22
• Law on Nationality 1996 and the 2025 implementing sub-decree, investment and donation thresholds, 2026-10-22

Last updated 2026-10-22.