Which Cambodia visa do US citizens need for a vacation?
The Tourist eVisa. If your trip is leisure — vacation, sightseeing, beaches, food, family visit, or time with friends — and your stay is 30 days or fewer, the Tourist eVisa at $80 USD all-in is the correct class. It is approved in 3 business days, delivered as a printable PDF by email, valid 3 months from issue, and gives you a single 30-day stay. You do not need the Business eVisa unless work or a stay over 30 days is involved.
I have one work meeting on an otherwise leisure trip — Tourist or Business?
Business. Cambodian Immigration does not pro-rate the visa class by day — either the trip is leisure or it contains structured commercial activity. A single calendared meeting with a client, supplier, or partner pushes the whole trip into Business class. The premium over Tourist is just $10 USD, the approval time is the same 3 business days, and the visa is delivered as the same printable PDF by email. When in doubt, default to Business.
Is there a Cambodia visa US citizens can skip — any visa-free or on-arrival option?
No. US citizens need a visa to enter Cambodia, and the eVisa applied for before you fly is the route to plan around in 2026. There is no waiver and no visa-free entry for American passport holders. For almost every US traveler the choice is simply Tourist eVisa or Business eVisa, both approved in 3 business days and delivered as a printable PDF by email.
My trip is 35 days but all leisure — Tourist or Business?
Business. The Tourist eVisa is capped at 30 days in-country with no extension since November 2025. Any stay longer than 30 days — even if every single day is leisure — needs to start on the Business eVisa, which can be extended in-country in 1, 3, 6, or 12-month blocks. Apply for Business at $90 USD and you are covered for the full 35-day plan with margin for delays.
Can I upgrade a Tourist eVisa to a Business eVisa once I am in Cambodia?
No. There is no in-country upgrade path from a Tourist class to a Business class, and Tourist auto-extension ended in November 2025, so the Tourist eVisa is a hard 30-day cap. The only fix for a wrong-class entry is exit and re-apply: a flight out of Cambodia, a fresh $90 USD Business application, a 3-business-day wait, and re-entry. Pick the right class before you fly.
I plan to do remote work for my US employer from the hotel — what class?
Business. Remote work is paid work, and Cambodian Immigration does not exempt it because the laptop happens to be in a beach bungalow or a hotel room in Phnom Penh. If you plan to open the laptop for paid work at any point on the trip, you need the Business eVisa from the start. If you are taking genuine PTO and the laptop stays in the bag, you are a Tourist.
What does the immigration officer at the airport actually ask?
The officer at Phnom Penh's KTI (Techo International), Siem Reap (SAI), or Sihanoukville (KOS) scans the QR or barcode on your eVisa PDF, sees the class code on screen — T or E — and asks your purpose of visit to verify the trip matches. For a Tourist eVisa, a clean leisure answer works: "Vacation at Angkor," "Family visit in Phnom Penh," "A week at the beach with friends." For a Business eVisa, give the structured activity: "Meetings with our local distributor," "Industry conference," "Supplier site visit." Match the class, keep it short, and you sail through.
I genuinely do not know yet whether I will have meetings — what do I pick?
Apply for the Business eVisa. The $10 USD premium covers you for either outcome, and you cannot upgrade in-country if the meetings materialize after you land. American applicants who default to Tourist just in case the meeting falls through are the most common preventable secondary-inspection cases at the border. If you are genuinely uncertain, Business is the safe pick — same 3 business days, same printable PDF by email, with free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction.
