Cambodia Extension of Stay for General Purposes (EG)
A short extension of stay for people looking for work or taking a first long look at the country. It runs 1 to 6 months and is not designed to be renewed.
The EG is widely sold as a digital nomad visa. It is not one. It carries no work rights, including the strict reading that remote work for a foreign employer is not authorised, and it is single entry. It exists as a bridge between arriving and deciding, and repeated use is treated as a warning sign rather than a routine.
Programme snapshot
| Item | Current rule |
|---|---|
| Main audience | Foreigners looking for work, or on a first extended visit before committing to a long stay route |
| Route family | Job search as written, remote work as used in practice |
| Validity | 1, 3 or 6 months |
| Stay per entry | Matched to the extension purchased. Single entry |
| Threshold | Extension fee only. No means test and no published figure separate from the standard fee schedule |
| Renewal | Generally not renewable beyond the initial grant. Treated as a one shot bridge |
| Settlement | None |
| PR clock | None |
| Citizenship clock | None in practice. Gaps break continuity of residence |
| Family | No dependents |
| Local employment | No |
| Tax headline | Not a work status, so no payroll position arises from it |
| Processing | 5 to 10 working days |
Application flow
- Enter on an E class ordinary visa. The EG cannot be obtained from a tourist T visa.
- Decide the term: 1, 3 or 6 months.
- Apply at the immigration department in Phnom Penh, in person or through an agent.
- Use the time to secure a job offer, a company registration or a retirement basis.
- Switch to EB, ER or ES before the EG expires. Do not plan to renew it.
Good fit
Someone who has just arrived and wants three to six months to decide whether Cambodia works for them, without tying up capital or incorporating a company. Also job seekers who expect to have a contract within a few months and will move onto an EB. It is cheap and it requires no supporting documentation beyond the entry visa.
Poor fit
Anyone who needs a second year, since renewal is not intended and repeated grants are refused. Remote workers who want a legitimate long stay, who should register a sole proprietorship and take an EB. Families, since the EG carries no dependents. And anyone who treats it as a nomad visa and plans to work from a café on it for six months.
Watchpoints
- It is not a digital nomad visa. Agents market it as one. The category is general purposes, the work right is absent, and an inspection will not accept the marketing.
- Single entry. A weekend in Bangkok ends the permission, whatever remains on the stamp.
- It does not renew. Plan the exit or the switch from the start. A second EG request is where refusals begin.
- No dependents. A spouse and children cannot be added, and each would need their own qualifying route.
- Time on an EG builds nothing. It does not count toward the seven year residence record for naturalisation in any useful way, and gaps in continuous legal residence break that clock.
- It is the wrong route for a business owner. Once a company exists, or a patent tax certificate is issued, the correct status is EB and sitting on an EG is treated as an irregular stay.
Sources
- General Department of Immigration, extension of stay categories, checked 2026-10-22
- Acclime Cambodia, immigration guide, extension categories and durations, checked 2026-10-22