South-East Asia Destination

By: Rahmi Hidayat

On our first visit to Cambodia, I got the responsibility of getting the Cambodia visa, both for me and for my brother.

Surprisingly, it was easy and high-tech too! I was then in Jakarta, and I dreaded the fact that I had to go downtown to go the Cambodian embassy, and deal with bureaucratic whatnot, and very possibly take the whole day just to submit the application. Not to mention the traffic to downtown and back, and not to mention that I'd have to do the whole trip once more to pick up the visa, if I get it.

Then to my surprise, Cambodia offers e-visa!

What in the world? First of all, Cambodia isn't a developed country, and as far as I know, very few developed country offer such a thing called e-visa. So I was flabbergasted.

After being thoroughly relieved that I didn't have to make that hellish trip downtown to the Cambodia embassy, I quickly set my affairs in order by applying online for the said electronic Cambodia Visa. Then, what I noticed immediately was how lax and easy the requirements were.

It was basically just to fill a form, upload a photo, pay the fee, and wait for approval.

The next amazing thing that I encountered was how fast it was processed. So fast that I doubt a human actually looked at the application, and that all the way through it was some machine processing the visa. How amazing is that?

I submitted my completed application online in the morning, and less than 2 hours later, I got an email saying that both our visa applications were approved, and that all we needed to do now was print the file that they sent, and bring that to the immigration.

I don't know whether I should be happy or scared. Bring a printed visa to the Cambodian immigration? Would they even let me enter the county?

Then another thing amazed me (this whole visa business was a series of amazement to me).

In addition to accepting credit card for visa fee payment, they also accept Paypal. Paypal!

At that time it became sort of surreal. That was my first encounter seeing Paypal being used in a serious government business matter. It was too easy to be true, and what's even more bizarre was that it really was true and legitimate. I got a Cambodian Visa, without leaving my home, without talking to a bureaucrat, without whipping out my credit card!

That was the first great experience with Cambodia; a good omen that I'd be having lots of fun in Cambodia, and I did.

Considering how easy they make visitors go to see Angkor Wat, it's no wonder that tourism is increasing rapidly. Since then I've also applied for the visa upon arrival, and while that's also a simple and straightforward business (I applied at the airport, not the border), I liked the convenience of the e-visa better. Armed with the visa printout upon arrival, I had no need to wait in line and stay around waiting for it to be processed.

Rahmi Hidayat writes and maintains the contents of the Holiday In Angkor Wat website, a resource website for first time and epeat visitors to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It provides free information about the different ways to experience Angkor Wat and Siem Reap. She writes more about Cambodia Visa at the website.