Cambodia Type-T vs Type-E Visa Explained for US Citizens

Type-E: the Cambodia Business eVisa

Type-E is the Business eVisa — sometimes called the "ordinary" visa in older Cambodian paperwork, which throws Americans off because "ordinary" sounds like the default. It is not. Type-E is the work-and-extend class. You pick it when the purpose of your trip is professional: meetings with a Cambodian counterpart, consulting work, a supplier visit, a conference, an NGO posting, or scouting an investment.

For US citizens the Type-E Business eVisa is $90 USD all-in and is approved in 3 business days — the same processing window as Type-T, delivered the same way as a printable PDF by email, with the same free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction. On its own, a fresh Type-E gives you the same headline entry as Type-T: a 30-day single entry, valid 3 months from issue. The $10 difference is the class itself, not extra time at the gate.

What you are really buying with Type-E is the option to extend. Type-E is the only Cambodia visa class that can be extended once you are inside the country, in 1, 3, 6, or 12-month blocks through a Cambodian immigration agent. That single fact is why a traveler heading over for what looks like a two-week assignment but might turn into two months should start on Type-E. You cannot convert a Type-T into a Type-E mid-trip — so if there is any real chance you will stay longer than 30 days, you choose the class on the way in, not after you land.

If you are weighing a longer or open-ended stay, the Cambodia Business Visa (Type-E) guide covers the extension paths and which block lengths make sense. And if you genuinely cannot decide which purpose your trip falls under, the which Cambodia visa do I need decision guide runs the question down to a single answer in a couple of steps.

Type-T vs Type-E side by side

Stacked against each other, the two classes are more alike than different. Same processing time, same 30-day stay, same single entry, same 3-month validity. The split comes down to purpose, price, and whether you can extend. Here is the comparison the way the application form effectively asks it.

Read the table and the decision almost makes itself. If your stay is 30 days or under and the purpose is leisure, Type-T at $80 USD is the obvious pick. If the purpose is professional or there is any chance you will need to extend past 30 days, the $10 step up to Type-E buys you the only extension path Cambodia offers — which is far cheaper than discovering at day 28 that you boxed yourself into a class that cannot be stretched.

How US travelers should choose between the two

The class follows the purpose of your trip, not your job title. A software engineer flying to Siem Reap purely to see Angkor Wat picks Type-T. A retired teacher flying over for a paid week of guest lectures picks Type-E. What you do for a living back home is irrelevant; what you will be doing in Cambodia is the question.

• Choose Type-T (Tourist) if you are going for vacation, sightseeing, a beach trip, a stopover, or to visit friends and family — and you will be in Cambodia 30 days or less.
• Choose Type-E (Business) if you have meetings, a consulting engagement, a conference, a supplier or factory visit, NGO or development work, or investor due diligence on the agenda.
• Choose Type-E if there is any realistic chance your 30 days turns into 60 or 90 — it is the only class you can extend in-country, and you cannot switch classes after you arrive.
• Default to Type-T if you are genuinely just a tourist and the trip is short. Most Americans never need Type-E, and paying $80 USD instead of $90 USD for the exact same 30-day entry is the right call when extension is not on the table.

A common trap: Americans on a "working vacation" — a digital nomad stretch, a remote-work month from a Phnom Penh cafe — often assume they need Type-E because they will technically be working. If you are simply doing your usual remote job for a US employer while traveling and you will be gone inside 30 days, Type-T is the practical fit. Type-E is for work that involves a Cambodian entity, or for stays that will run past the 30-day Type-T ceiling. When in doubt about a borderline case, the safer move is Type-E, because it preserves the extension option you cannot add later.

Whichever class you land on, the documents you upload are identical — a US passport, a digital photo, payment, and an email address. The class code does not change the paperwork; it changes the box ticked at the top of the form. If you want the labels framed by trip type rather than visa code, the Cambodia tourist vs business visa comparison for Americans lays the same fork out in plain language.

Putting it together before you apply

Two letters, one decision. Type-T is the Tourist eVisa at $80 USD all-in; Type-E is the Business eVisa at $90 USD all-in; both are approved in 3 business days, both arrive as a printable PDF by email, and both come with US-timezone support and a free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction. If you are still circling the question, the full Cambodia visa types list for US citizens lays out every class label in one place so nothing on the form looks unfamiliar.

One reminder that has nothing to do with which class you pick: every air arrival in 2026 also has to file a Cambodia e-Arrival Card. It is a separate form from the visa — 14 fields, submitted within the 7 days before you fly — and it is mandatory whether you hold a Type-T or a Type-E. Americans who line up both the eVisa and the e-Arrival at the start avoid the most common 2026 hold-up at the airport kiosk.

Next steps and related reading for US travelers: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, bookmark our Cambodia visa hub for US citizens as the single canonical reference, run the which Cambodia visa do I need decision guide if you are still on the fence, and skim the Cambodia tourist visa vs business visa comparison for the same call without the class codes.