New Visa Office Building Finished At Poipet Border

[welo]

Just wanted to inform the honorable TV community that construction work on the new Visa-On-Arrival office at the Poipet Border is finished and the counter service has already moved there. The famous blue sign stating the 20 USD for the Tourist Visa has been moved there as well

The building is located to the right of the Angkor-styled stone arc that spans the road (hard to miss). This is the same location where the old visa booth was located, just before construction work started a view months ago. The visa office had been temporarily moved to the small white building in the middle/left of the road. The 'health check' (leftover from the swine flu days, basically just filling out a form) is still located in this small white 'hut'. Touts and officers might try to lure you into the offices with tinted glass doors just next to it when you get out of the health check.

The new building is big enough and hard to miss. Check out the pics.

Here a quick guide how to cross the border and come back

1. follow the pedestrian walkway which is partly covered by a sun-roof to the Thai immigration building. Touts will approach you on the way there, ignore them. Don't follow them to any 'visa office' or 'agency' (unless you want to). There is a queuing point before you enter the building with 'lanes' for Thai and Foreigners - the inside is a rather big hall with a handful of counters for Thai citizens, Foreigners, Border Pass, and Group Tours.
   
2. Check your departure card for completeness and queue at one of the counters for 'Foreigners' until you get your exit stamp, then exit the building
   
3. walk 100 meters (still on the left road side), you will see a small white building straight ahead, and offices with tinted glass windows on the left. You can see the stone arc from there. Enter the white building and do the 'health check' (a simple form stating that you are not sick). Don't enter the offices to the left, touts or officers might want to persuade you to do the visa there.
   
4. after the health check exit the building and cross the street under the stone arc to the newly built Visa On Arrival office. The sign above the entrance says 'The Office of the International Border Checkpoint Poipet'.
   Inside you find a counter, above which you will see a blue sign stating the 3 types of Visas and the prices (see pictures). Bring one photo and a pen, fill the smallish application form, takes 5-15 minutes, you'll have a 1-page sticker in your passport.
   Official price is 20 USD, officers will charge 1000 THB (30 USD). Everything in between is up to negotiations. Your best bet is to bring 20 USD, then add 0-200 THB tea money.
   
5. keep walking for another 200m (along the right road side), passing the casino hotels, until you arrive at a small building/gateway, fill the arrival card, get your Cambodian entry stamp.
   
6. Welcome to Cambodia!
   

In front of you there will be a roundabout and touts will approach you to board the bus to the bus station or whatsoever. Say, no thank you, and just walk cross the street to the Cambodian Exit immigration counter where people will probably already line up.

1. get exit stamp at Cambodian immigration counter
   
2. walk 100m passing the Casino hotels until you reach the big stone arc, cross the street, keep walking until you come to the Thai immigration building, where you get your entry stamp
   
3. Welcome to Thailand
   

[mxyzptlk]

It's better to get Cambodian Tourist eVisa online before you go to Poipet for $25. Instead of using a full page, you get 2 small stamps(entry & exit) and don't have to deal with the touts.This removes the need for step 4 above.

HTH

Edited July 19, 2010 by mxyzptlk

[welo]

Indeed, I have been using the eVisa service myself many times and can recommend it!

http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/evisa/

You need an internet connection, a digital photo of yours, a credit card and a printer and there you go to http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/evisa/. Have done it many times now (and so have others on this forum), the billing process is done by a company in Singapore. This time the visa has been issued within minutes, before it used to take maybe 4-5 hours. Best to apply 2-3 days before embarking on your visa run just to make sure. Costs are 20 USD plus 5 USD fee - you take a printout of the evisa and go straight to the Cambodian immigration, no need to deal with the visa-on-arrival guys. This will avoid the full page sticker for the Cambodian visa, basically you'll just show the eVisa printout (like an eTicket) and get only the exit and entry stamps (2x Thai, 2x Cambodia).

Disclaimer: some people are not comfortable obtaining the eVisa since it requires a credit card. I use it all the time and didn't have any fraudulent withdrawals (so far )