Work Legally in Cambodia. Here's How.

Every foreign national employed in Cambodia, regardless of nationality, role or seniority, must hold a valid work permit issued by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, filed through the Foreign Workers Centralized Management System. This includes employees of Cambodian companies, executives and directors actively working in a Cambodia-registered business, staff placed by international companies into Cambodia-based roles, and NGO or international organisation staff under local contracts.

You generally don't need one if you're a visitor whose income originates entirely outside Cambodia, a passive investor without active in-country management, or a consultant whose work happens outside Cambodia with only incidental presence here. If you're unsure which side of that line you're on, a brief conversation with us gives you a clear answer and protects you from inadvertent non-compliance.

The work permit can't be issued without the right visa category first — you need an EB business category visa, not the ordinary category, before applying. We set both up in the correct order, simultaneously where possible. Alongside the work permit you'll also need an Employment Card, filed at the same time or immediately after — both come from the MLVT and both need annual renewal.

Cambodia has historically operated an annual application deadline for foreign work permits, commonly cited around the end of March. Deadlines like this can shift year to year, so we confirm the current date rather than assume last year's applies — missing it isn't just an inconvenience, since non-compliance can carry real fines against the hiring employer.

Coordinating the EB visa (handled by the General Department of Immigration) against the work permit and employment card (both handled by the MLVT) is where most delays actually happen — two separate government bodies, two separate sets of paperwork. We handle both and keep your status clean across each.