Do Cambodian passport holders need a visa for Vietnam?

No, for up to 30 days. Cambodia and Vietnam have had an open-ended visa exemption agreement since 2010, and it is honoured at airports, seaports and land borders alike, so Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City overland is a passport and nothing else. The catch only appears if you want longer than 30 days, because the visa you would then need is not accepted at every crossing.

Visa required

No, for a stay of up to 30 days

Basis

Bilateral visa exemption agreement, in force since 2010

Valid at

Airports, seaports and land borders

Common land crossing

Bavet to Moc Bai, on the Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City road

Longer than 30 days

Needs an e-visa or other visa, with port restrictions

Passport validity

Six months from date of entry

Purpose

Tourism, business, family visits and transit

Entry requirements

• A Cambodian ordinary passport valid for at least six months from the date of entry.
• Nothing else for a stay of 30 days or less. No form, no fee, no advance application.
• An e-visa or an appropriate visa if the stay will exceed 30 days, obtained before you travel.
• Awareness of which crossing you intend to use if you are travelling on a visa rather than the exemption.

What happens when you cross into Vietnam

Present the passport at the border, whether that is an airport, a seaport or a land crossing. The exemption is the same instrument in all three cases.

Count 30 days from entry. The exemption is per stay rather than an annual allowance.

If the trip might run longer, buy the e-visa before you leave rather than planning to sort it out at the border, and check that the crossing you intend to use is on the list of ports where an e-visa is accepted.

Keep it to the covered purposes. Tourism, business, family visits and transit are inside the exemption; working is not.

Good to know

• The problem that dominates most writing about entering Vietnam does not apply to you, and knowing that saves reading a great deal of irrelevant advice. Vietnam’s e-visa is only accepted at the crossings it publishes, and a smaller land border with a neighbour is not automatically among them, which is why so much guidance is about checking your port before you travel. A Cambodian arriving within the exemption is not using an e-visa at all, so the port list is simply not part of the journey. Bavet to Moc Bai on the Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City road works on the passport alone.
• It is a treaty rather than a list, and the distinction matters more here than it sounds. Vietnam opened its e-visa to every nationality in August 2023, which is a policy the government sets and can revise. The Cambodian exemption is a bilateral agreement in force since 2010 with no expiry, maintained by two governments rather than published by one. That is a steadier footing, and it is the reason the exemption survives changes to the e-visa regime that make headlines.
• The trap is the thirty-first day, and it is sharper than it looks because the two regimes do not overlap neatly. Stay within 30 days and you may use any crossing. Need longer, and you are on an e-visa or another visa, which means the port list applies to you after all. The crossing you have used freely for years may not be one where your visa is accepted, and the answer is a long detour to a crossing that is. Decide the length of the trip before you decide the route, not the other way round.
• Thirty days is not the common ASEAN figure it looks like. Vietnam grants its neighbours different lengths rather than one shared allowance, and those lengths get revised: Indonesia’s dropped to 14 days with effect from 15 July 2026. Cambodia’s 30 days rests on the bilateral agreement rather than on membership of the bloc, so a figure you hear from a traveller with another ASEAN passport is not evidence about yours.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

• Do Indonesian citizens need a visa for Vietnam?
• Do Egyptian citizens need a visa for Vietnam?
• Check visa requirements for any passport

Other passports for Vietnam

• Gabon passport holders visiting Vietnam
• Mozambique passport holders visiting Vietnam

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 27 August 2026.

• Cambodia-Vietnam agreement on visa exemption, in force since 2010 and open-ended: Cambodian ordinary passport holders may enter Vietnam without a visa for up to 30 days per stay, for tourism, business, family visits and transit, and the exemption is honoured at airports, land borders and seaports, including Bavet to Moc Bai on the Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City route; the passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of entry. Read 2026-08-27.
• Vietnam Immigration Department — the e-visa is accepted only at the ports of entry Vietnam publishes, and the published list was expanded on 3 December 2025; a visa that is valid is nevertheless not usable at a crossing that is not on the list.
• Vietnam opened its e-visa to citizens of all countries and territories from 15 August 2023 under Law No. 23/2023/QH15 and Resolution No. 127/NQ-CP, a unilateral policy distinct from bilateral exemption agreements.
• Vietnam grants differing visa-free periods to ASEAN member states rather than a single common allowance; Indonesian ordinary passport holders moved to 14 days with effect from 15 July 2026.

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.