Do British Travellers Need the Cambodia e-Arrival Card?

The short answer: yes

If you are flying from the UK, or from anywhere else on a British passport, into Phnom Penh, Siem Reap or Sihanoukville, you need the Cambodia e-Arrival Card. There is no exemption for British nationals, for travellers who already hold a visa, or for short trips.

The card is Cambodia’s online arrival declaration. Since 2024 it has replaced the paper immigration card, health form and customs declaration that used to be handed out on the plane. You fill it in online in the week before you land, you get a QR code, and Immigration scans that code when you arrive.

Why your visa does not cover it

This is the point that confuses most British travellers. You apply for a Cambodian eVisa, it is approved, and it seems reasonable to assume you are done. You are not. The visa and the e-Arrival Card are separate documents that do separate jobs.

• The visa is your permission to enter Cambodia. UK passport holders need one for any stay.
• The e-Arrival Card is a declaration about this particular arrival: which flight, which airport, where you are staying, when you are leaving and where you are going next, plus health and customs answers.
• The visa can be arranged weeks in advance. The e-Arrival Card can only be submitted in the 7 days before you land.

If you have not sorted the visa yet, start there. Our guide to the Cambodia visa for UK citizens explains the options, and you can apply for the Cambodia eVisa online: Tourist $80 USD or Business $90 USD, approved in 3–5 days.

Who in your party needs one

Everyone. The card is tied to a passport, not to a booking, so the simple rule is to count the passports. A couple needs two cards. A family of four needs four. There is no joint or family card.

That includes children. Cambodia does not publish a separate rule for infants, and we file a card for every traveller in a party, babies included, because each one travels on their own passport.

Travelling with children? Our guide for British families covers how to file a card for each child without mixing up whose details go where.