Cambodia Visa - Viking Mekong Cruise from HoChiMingh City to Phnom Penh

[wumac]

We are booked on Viking's Magnificent Mekong cruise in February 2017. We board at HCM City cruising into Cambodia at Phnom Penh. Viking advised evisas for Cambodia are unacceptable. To obtain a visa prior to departure, we will have to send our passports to the Cambodian Consulate in Washington, DC and allow three weeks for processing. We are travelling in January and reluctant to take a chance of losing our passport or cutting it too short so we do not receive them back from DC. Does anyone have experience in this regard? We are spending the first two days in HCM City prior to boarding the boat. Can we wait till after we arrive Vietnam to obtain a visa for Cambodia? Viking is wanting us to get both visas for Vietnam and Cambodia prior to departure from our home country. Vietnam visas are easier since there is a Vietnam Embassy in Vancouver, BC that we can visit and not lose sight of our passports. Cambodia is another story.

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. You should be asking this on the River Cruises board here, and on the board for Asia under Ports of Call. EM

[Keith1010]

You really should be dealing with Viking on this. Visas are too important to just go on what someone says here.

 

Typically if you begin or end your cruise in locations other then Cambodia and Vietnam most traditional cruise lines obtain the visas on board the ship for all guests. But in your case you begin in Vietnam so obviously need a visa and you are on a river cruise so maybe they just don't obtain the Cambodia visas like a traditional cruise line does.

 

Can you use a Visa Service for Cambodia?

 

If you can I would use a Visa Service and pay the extra amount to have the Visa expedited so that passport is not out of your hands for very long. I would actually get them both done that way even though you said you could do Vietnam given that February is around the corner.

 

Keith

[iancal]

We went to Cambodia and Vietnam from Thailand last year.

 

We flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia and got our Visa at the airport when we arrived.. It was a very simple process, no picture required. It took all of 15 minutes.

 

We entered Vietnam by land. While in Siem Reap we gave our passports to a local TA who in turn had them sent to the Viet Nam consulate for a Visa. That was an overnight process as I recall. My understanding is that you do have to pay a service fee on top of the visa fee when you send your passport to a Viet Nam embassy/consulate. We then entered Vietnam by land. We had single entry 30 day visas.

 

As I recall it depends on the passport that you travel with. We travel on Canadian passports. It could be different for other nationalities.

[iancal]

We went to Cambodia and Vietnam from Thailand last year.

 

We flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia and got our Visa at the airport when we arrived.. It was a very simple process, no picture required. It took all of 15 minutes. Perhaps the issue is with the entry facilities where you actually enter Cambodia.

 

We entered Vietnam by land. While in Siem Reap we gave our passports to a local TA who in turn had them sent to the Viet Nam consulate for a Visa. That was an overnight process as I recall. My understanding is that you do have to pay a service fee on top of the visa fee when you send your passport to a Viet Nam embassy/consulate. We then entered Vietnam by land. We had single entry 30 day visas.

 

As I recall it depends on the passport that you travel with. We travel on Canadian passports. It could be different for other nationalities.

[cruising cockroach]

Be aware that visas requirements for arrival by air and arrival by land and sea may differ, and certain types of visas are limited to entry only at certain entry points.

 

It look like entry with an e-visa is limited to some 5 points of which it appears the MeKong river isn't one of them.

 

https://www.evisa.gov.kh/

 

You may be able to get physical visa enroute but it takes time (usually at least a day, and you need to find and return to the place) and you need all the paperwork (e.g., photos, cash, approved things to attach the photo to the form - wasn't all that easy when I applied or one in Bangkok years ago).

 

There reportedly a consulate in North Van. You might see if they issue visas.

http://www.cambodiaevisa.com/america/consulate-of-cambodia-in-canada/