लंबे प्रवास के लिए अमेरिकियों को किस कंबोडिया वीज़ा पर प्रवेश करना चाहिए? टाइप T बनाम टाइप E

Type T vs Type E: the long-stay side-by-side

Here is the honest comparison for a US citizen choosing what to enter on, with the long stay in mind. The first rows look almost identical — same approval time, same validity, same initial 30-day stay. The whole decision lives in the bottom three rows.

Read that bottom block carefully, because it is the entire reason this article exists. The two visas cost almost the same and process in exactly the same time. The $10 USD difference between them is the price of an airport coffee. What you are actually buying with the Business eVisa is the right to stay past day 30 — and that is the only thing a long-stay traveler cares about.

It is about the length of your stay, not your job

The most common misread among Americans is that "Business eVisa" means you need a business reason. You do not. Cambodian Immigration uses the Type E class for two overlapping groups: trips with a structured purpose, and trips that simply run longer than a normal vacation. A retiree who has never worked a day in Cambodia and never will still enters on the Type E for a six-month stay — purely because it is the only class that can carry the trip past 30 days. The label says "business"; the function is "long stay."

So the question to ask yourself is not "is my trip business?" It is "will I be in Cambodia for more than 30 days?" If yes, the Business eVisa is your entry class, full stop, regardless of what you plan to do there. The Cambodia Business eVisa for US citizens guide walks through who the Type E covers and exactly what the application asks for.

How the Business eVisa carries a stay past 30 days

The Business eVisa enters you the same way the Tourist eVisa does — a single entry, an initial 30-day stay stamped at the airport. The difference is what happens before that 30 days runs out. While you are inside Cambodia, you arrange an extension through a Cambodian immigration agent, and that extension stacks on top of your initial stay. This is the mechanism the entire long-stay plan rests on, and only the Type E supports it.

1. 1
   Apply for the Business eVisa

   Lodge the Business eVisa (Type E) before you fly — $90 USD all-in, approved in 3 business days.

2. 2
   Enter Cambodia

   Arrive on a single entry and get an initial 30-day stay stamped at the airport, the same as the Tourist eVisa.

3. 3
   Hand your passport to an agent

   About two weeks before your 30-day stay expires, give your passport to a Cambodian immigration agent in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap.

4. 4
   Choose your extension length

   Pick a 1, 3, 6, or 12-month extension; all four are renewable and the 12-month is multi-entry.

5. 5
   Collect your stamped passport

   The agent lodges the paperwork and returns your passport stamped, usually 7 to 14 days later.

6. 6
   Stack to run a year or more

   Renew or stack extensions on the same original Business eVisa to carry a stay of 12 months or more.

Four extension lengths exist: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. All four are renewable, so you can stack a 6-month extension on an earlier 6-month one and run a full year or more on the same original Business eVisa. The 12-month extension is also multi-entry, which matters if your long stay includes trips home to the US or weekend hops to Singapore or Bangkok — you can leave and re-enter without buying a new visa each time.

The practical rhythm is simple. You enter on the Business eVisa, settle in, and roughly two weeks before your initial 30-day stay expires you hand your passport to an immigration agent in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. They lodge the extension paperwork and return your passport stamped, usually 7 to 14 days later. From that point your stay is governed by the extension length you chose. Start the paperwork too late and you risk slipping into overstay, so the two-week buffer is the number to remember.

Agent fees move with the local market, so we don't quote exact figures, but the shape is consistent: the 1-month extension carries the highest per-month rate, the 3-month and 6-month extensions hit the value sweet spot, and the 12-month is the cheapest per day for genuine long-stayers. The full mechanics — which extension to lodge, when, and what it costs against the eVisa itself — are covered in our guide to converting a Cambodia eVisa to a long-stay extension for Americans.

Map your trip to the right entry class

The cleanest way to choose is to find your trip in the list below. Everything 30 days or under is a clean Tourist eVisa. Everything that runs past 30 days — for any reason at all — is a Business eVisa. Here are the long-stay profiles we see most often from American travelers, and the class each one enters on.

• Retirement trial — a US couple spending three to twelve months in Kampot, Kep, or Siem Reap to decide whether to settle. Enter on the Business eVisa, lodge a 3, 6, or 12-month extension. No work, no business contacts, still Type E — purely because of the length.
• Digital nomad / remote worker — a Seattle software engineer or a freelance designer based in Siem Reap for the dry season, paid from outside Cambodia. Enter on the Business eVisa; the 6-month extension is the most common pick we process for this group.
• Sabbatical or career break — an American taking three to six months off to travel slowly and live in one place. Business eVisa, 3 or 6-month extension. The trip is leisure in spirit but long in duration, so the class is Type E.
• Long consulting or contract assignment — a quarterly project with a Phnom Penh client, or a multi-month build for a US employer. Business eVisa, 3 or 6-month extension, with the multi-entry 12-month option if you will be flying in and out.
• Snowbird seasonal stay — Americans escaping the northern winter for four to six months on the coast or by the river. Business eVisa, 6-month extension. The single most predictable long-stay profile we see.
• Volunteer, study, or family stay over 30 days — an extended visit to a partner, a language program, or a long volunteering placement. If it runs past 30 days, it enters on the Business eVisa, regardless of the purpose.
• A genuine two-to-four-week trip — temples, beaches, Phnom Penh, done in under 30 days. This is the one profile that stays on the Tourist eVisa. If you are confident you will be out before day 31, the Type T is right and $10 USD cheaper.

The single decision rule that covers all of them: if there is any real chance your stay touches day 31, enter on the Business eVisa. The downside of over-buying is $10 USD; the downside of under-buying is a forced exit and a fresh application mid-trip. When the extension lengths themselves are the question — and especially the EB versus EG distinction that governs which extension you are eligible for — our guide to Cambodia EB vs EG visa extensions for Americans breaks down which path fits which long-stay profile.

The mistake that costs long-stay Americans the most

The expensive error is almost always the same: an American who half-plans a long stay enters on the cheaper Tourist eVisa "to keep options open," then discovers around day 25 that there is no option to keep. The Tourist eVisa cannot be extended and cannot be converted. There is no in-country path from Type T to Type E. The only way to legally extend the stay is to leave Cambodia and re-enter on a fresh Business eVisa — which means a flight out, a fresh $90 USD application, and a gap in the middle of a stay that was supposed to be continuous.

Because all seven Thailand land borders are closed, that exit is not the quick bus-to-the-border-and-back run it used to be. You are flying to Bangkok, Singapore, or Ho Chi Minh City, or crossing into Vietnam at Bavet, then turning around. For a digital nomad mid-contract or a retiree who has just signed a six-month lease in Kampot, that is days of disruption and several hundred dollars in flights and visas — all to fix a $10 USD decision that should have been made before departure.

There is no penalty whatsoever for over-preparing. If you enter on the Business eVisa and your plans shrink to a two-week trip, you simply leave before day 30 and you have lost exactly $10 USD versus the Tourist eVisa. There is no minimum stay, no obligation to use the extension, no paperwork to unwind. The asymmetry could not be clearer: the cost of guessing high is trivial, and the cost of guessing low is a wrecked itinerary.

The one piece of the trip the visa class does not change is the e-Arrival Card. Whether you enter on Type T or Type E, every air arrival files the same 14-field e-Arrival Card within 7 days before the flight — it is mandatory and entirely separate from your visa. Print two copies of whichever eVisa approval you hold, carry a US passport with at least 6 months of validity, and have your e-Arrival QR saved to your phone. For the wider planning picture, the hub guide keeps the cost, documents, and processing facts in one place.

Next steps and related reading for US citizens: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, bookmark the Cambodia visa for United States citizens hub as your canonical reference, read the full Type T vs Type E explainer if you want the label-by-label breakdown, and check the dedicated Cambodia Business eVisa guide for what the long-stay application asks for.