베트남 vs 캄보디아, 어디를 먼저? 미국인을 위한 비자와 출입국 최적 순서

The decision framework: what actually sets the order

Strip away the brochure photos and the order comes down to three practical inputs, in priority sequence. First, where your international flights land and depart — your cheapest, most convenient long-haul routing usually picks the first and last country for you. Second, your entry math — how many times you cross into each country, because both visas default to single entry. Third, the land border — whether you cross overland at Moc Bai–Bavet or fly between the two. Sights and weather come fourth, and only as a tiebreaker.

Start from your flights

For most Americans, the long-haul flight decides the bookends. If the cheapest routing from the US lands you in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, Vietnam is your first country and you exit through Cambodia. If you find a better fare into Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, flip it. The two countries are close enough that the in-country leg — a short flight or a land crossing — is a minor cost either way, so let the expensive international ticket lead. There is no visa penalty for going in either direction.

Then check your entry math

This is the input that quietly breaks itineraries. A one-way route — in through Vietnam, out through Cambodia, or the reverse — enters each country exactly once, so a single-entry visa for each is all you need, and order is free. The moment your route returns to a country you already left, that country needs a second entry, and single entry will not cover it. So before you fix the order, count crossings: one entry per country, single-entry visas, order is open; two entries into a country, you need multiple entry (Vietnam) or a fresh application (Cambodia) for that leg.

The cost is the same in both directions, which is why the order debate is really about logistics, not money. A single-entry Vietnam e-visa runs about $25 and the Cambodia Tourist eVisa is $80 all-in, so a one-way trip is $105 in visa fees plus the $5 verified e-Arrival, whichever country you start with.

The two visas you are sequencing

Before you fix the order, it helps to know exactly what each visa is, because their rules are what the order has to respect. Cambodia and Vietnam each issue their own electronic visa through their own immigration authority, valid only for their own country. There is no combined Indochina visa and no reciprocity, so you carry two separate approvals and present each at the relevant border.

The Cambodia Tourist eVisa is $80 USD all-in for US citizens, with the Business eVisa at $90. Both are approved in 3 business days and delivered as a printable PDF by email. The visa is valid for 3 months from issue and allows a 30-day single-entry stay. You apply with a US passport scan, a passport-style digital photo, an email address, and a card — no return flight, hotel booking, or bank statement required at the application stage.

Vietnam issues Americans an e-visa that costs about $25 for single-entry or $50 for multiple-entry, valid for up to 90 days depending on the option you choose. The application asks for the same core inputs plus a planned entry date and a nominated entry and exit port, and clears in roughly three working days. The Vietnam port fields are the one detail the order touches directly: you must name the airport or land crossing you enter and leave through, so your sequence has to be settled before you fill that form.

Because both default to single entry, the order question and the entry-type question are really the same question wearing two hats. A clean one-way order keeps both on the cheap single-entry tier; a loop order forces an upgrade on one side. For the full side-by-side on prices, processing, and what each leg requires, our Cambodia and Vietnam visa combo guide for Americans lays out both applications end to end.

When to apply once you have picked the order

Once the order is settled, the timing is simple: apply for both visas on the same day, ideally 10 to 14 days before your first international flight. There is no operational reason to stagger them — the two portals process independently, in parallel, in about three business days each. Filing together means both approvals are in hand well before departure, with buffer to fix a flagged photo on either side without touching your travel dates.

The order does shape one small thing: which entry dates you put on each form. Set the Vietnam e-visa entry date and port to match the leg where you actually enter Vietnam, and the Cambodia eVisa intended arrival date to match the leg where you enter Cambodia. The Cambodia eVisa does not lock you to that exact day — it is valid for 3 months from issue, so a date shift of a few days inside that window is no problem. The Vietnam form is stricter about the nominated port, so confirm your first Vietnam airport or land crossing before you submit it.

Build in a buffer, not a panic

"Business days" is the operative phrase on both sides. A US weekend or a Cambodian or Vietnamese public holiday extends the calendar wait, so a Friday-night application does not start moving until the following week. Filing 10 to 14 days out absorbs all of that, regardless of which country you sequenced first. Leaving either visa to the last 72 hours is the single most reliable way to turn a routine application into a stressful one — and it does not matter how clever your order is if the approval has not landed in time.

If you are sketching the actual days on the ground, our 2-week Vietnam and Cambodia itinerary for Americans maps a realistic route with the visa checkpoints marked, and the guide on splitting 30 days across Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos shows how to pace a longer trip across all three.

The land border that decides the middle of your trip

The overland link between the two countries is the same regardless of direction: Moc Bai on the Vietnamese side, Bavet on the Cambodian side, on the Saigon-to-Phnom Penh route. Tourist buses run it daily, the journey takes roughly 6 to 7 hours including border processing, and Americans who already hold both approved visas walk through in either direction. So whether you go Vietnam-first and cross Moc Bai → Bavet, or Cambodia-first and cross Bavet → Moc Bai, the crossing itself is symmetric.

The non-negotiable rule applies in both directions: both visas must already be in hand before you reach the border. Neither country issues a casual tourist visa at the Moc Bai–Bavet land crossing, so a missing approval means you do not cross — and you are stranded between two countries. This is exactly why the order has to be settled and both visas filed online, 10 to 14 days out. The land border is not a fallback for a visa you forgot to apply for.

One regional fact reshapes any plan that tries to use Thailand as the hinge: all seven Thailand–Cambodia land borders have been closed since June 2025, with no scheduled reopening confirmed as of April 2026. The old Bangkok-to-Siem Reap overland hop no longer works in either direction. If Thailand is on your wider trip, you fly between Thailand and Cambodia rather than driving, and Thailand cannot be the country you cross into Cambodia from by land. The Vietnam–Cambodia border is unaffected — Moc Bai–Bavet remains the one reliable overland link, which is why the practical Indochina order is built around Vietnam and Cambodia, with Thailand as a fly-in, fly-out bookend.

If the land crossing is your plan, our Bavet border crossing guide for US citizens covers the bus routes, what officers check, and how long each side actually takes. If your route re-enters Cambodia after a hop into Vietnam or Laos, our guide on re-entering Cambodia after Vietnam or Laos walks through exactly when that needs a second eVisa.

When the order actually matters: loop trips

Everything above says order is mostly free — and for a one-way route it is. The exception is the loop, where you return to fly home from the same country you started in. That is the one shape where the order, the entry type, and the cost all interact, and where a careless choice quietly doubles a visa fee.

Take the most common loop: fly into Ho Chi Minh City, bus to Phnom Penh, see Angkor Wat, then return to Vietnam to fly home from Hanoi. That route enters Vietnam twice — once at the start, once on the return — so a single-entry Vietnam e-visa is spent the moment you leave for Cambodia. This itinerary needs the $50 multiple-entry Vietnam e-visa. The Cambodia eVisa, always single-entry, handles its one leg perfectly. Reverse the loop — fly into Phnom Penh, go to Vietnam, come back to fly home from Cambodia — and now it is Cambodia you enter twice, so the second Cambodia entry needs a fresh eVisa application, while a single-entry Vietnam e-visa is enough.

That asymmetry is the whole reason order matters on a loop. Vietnam sells a multiple-entry e-visa for $50, so a Vietnam-bookended loop costs $50 + $80 + $5 = $135. Cambodia has no multiple-entry eVisa — a second entry is a second full $80 application — so a Cambodia-bookended loop costs $80 + $80 + $25 + $5 = $190. If your route must loop, bookend it with Vietnam and use the multiple-entry e-visa. That single ordering choice saves an American $55 on the same trip.

Loops, side trips, and re-entries are common enough that we cover the entry-type decision in its own guide: our single vs multiple entry explainer walks through the right choice for your exact route, so you buy the correct entry tier the first time instead of paying for a second application at the border.

The e-Arrival step and putting the order together

One piece rides along with whichever leg you fly into Cambodia on: the Cambodia e-Arrival Card. Every air arrival into Cambodia must file it — 14 fields covering your passport, flight number, arrival date, accommodation, and a short customs declaration. It is separate from the eVisa, mandatory, and submitted within 7 days before that Cambodia flight. So if you go Vietnam-first and fly Saigon to Phnom Penh, you file the e-Arrival for that flight; if you go Cambodia-first and fly straight into Phnom Penh from the US, you file it for the inbound. Our verified e-Arrival is $5 USD, checked end-to-end before it reaches Cambodian Immigration — a single date-format slip is one of the most common reasons travelers get bounced at the kiosk.

If you cross into Cambodia by land at Bavet rather than flying, the e-Arrival air-arrival step does not apply the same way — but your eVisa still has to be approved and in hand. Vietnam asks for nothing equivalent on either side; once the Vietnam e-visa PDF is approved, that single document is the whole set at the Vietnamese desk. So your order also quietly decides whether you file one e-Arrival or none: an air arrival into Cambodia means one Card, a land arrival into Cambodia means zero.

So the full ordering logic, start to finish: let your international flights pick the bookends; count your crossings to confirm one entry per country (or upgrade to multiple entry / a second eVisa if you loop); cross at Moc Bai–Bavet, not through closed Thailand; file both visas online the same day, 10 to 14 days out; and add the Cambodia e-Arrival Card for the leg you fly into Cambodia on. When you are ready, you can apply for your Cambodia eVisa now, and keep our Cambodia visa hub for United States citizens bookmarked as the single reference for every Cambodia rule, fee, and document.