How to Get Residency with Cambodia My Second Home

Why get residency in Cambodia with the CM2H program?

• Opportunity to apply for citizenship after five years, an uncommon opportunity among Asian countries.
• Tropical, affordable lifestyle with rapidly improving air connectivity.
• Live in a fiercely pro-business economy that is pulling out all the stops to promote economic growth and transform into a middle-income country.
• Cambodia is one of the most pro-cryptocurrency countries in the world.
• Live in a country that feels like the Thailand of 20 years ago.
• The CM2H program office provides investors assistance in opening local companies and bank accounts. They will also help with forming trusts for land and property ownership.

What are the costs and requirements for the CM2H program?

There are 3 options to obtain this premium residency program

How to apply for the CM2H Cambodia residency?

The total processing time from application submission to permit issuance is around two months.

1. Submit your personal information and passport copy for preliminary due-diligence (can be submitted remotely). After 5-7 days, the background check is processed and a result is issued.
2. In the event of an approval, the applicant should then plan a trip to Cambodia within one month of obtaining the approval to complete the rest of the process.
3. The applicant should plan to remain in country for 10 working days to complete the remaining parts of the process.

Does CM2H Offer a Path to Citizenship?

Cambodia currently claims that this program offers a path to citizenship after five years.

However, this will be subject to review by authorities and will be influenced by factors such as how much you have invested in the country, how many local jobs you have created, etc. They will also verify that Cambodia is indeed your second home, and not just another residency in your portfolio.

There will not be a Khmer language requirement.

It is a realistic path for individuals expecting to dig into the local business scene and make an impact, but not for people who only passively invest in the country or use it as a paper residency. Retirees for example should not expect to obtain citizenship using CM2H, nor people who only show up in Cambodia for a few weeks per year.

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Transcript of “How to Get Residency in Cambodia with the CM2H Program – Cambodia My Second Home”

LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello, everyone. Ladislas Maurice of The Wandering Investor today in beautiful Cambodia, and we’ll be discussing the CM2H program, Cambodia, my second home, which is the country’s premium residency program comparable to the Thai elite visa. Kent, you’re the program manager. How are you?

KENT: Nice to meet you. Very good. How are you?

LADISLAS MAURICE: Good. So can you please tell us about the three options to get this a premium residency, because there were recently some changes.

KENT: Yes. Uh, we updated to right now currently, we do have three different packages. For the option one, would be a pure donation $50,000 to join in, and then the option two would comes with the the same CM2H service plus the appointed projects, and then the option three would be the fixed deposit uh program.

CM2H real estate investment options for residency in Cambodia

LADISLAS MAURICE: So option number two is real estate. Can you tell us how like, what are what’s the minimum investment, how does it work?

KENT: Currently, the lowest cost for joining in by using option two would be $85,000 and then the developer will have a buy back after five years with $50,000.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, so you pay 85 now, and then in five years, you’re guaranteed by the developer to get 50. Yes. So effectively, it’s costing you $35,000, and do you get rental income in the meantime?

KENT: And and then at the same time, for every year, we have a fixed rental income too.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, cool. So option number two, generally speaking, you know, not taking into account opportunity cost is is more affordable. So for the real estate, it’s not any real estate in the country, it’s only real estate that’s been approved by your your program and the government.

KENT: Yeah, I would say that.

LADISLAS MAURICE: And the third option is term deposits.

CM2H fixed deposit options for residency in Cambodia

KENT: Yes. Uh option three would be the fixed deposit uh choice for the customer which starts from $150,000 to $200,000, which comes with different return yearly.

LADISLAS MAURICE: $150,000 for how many years?

KENT: For five years.

LADISLAS MAURICE: How much do I get?

KENT: That you have a per year 1% interest rate.

LADISLAS MAURICE: And 200,000 for how many years?

KENT: Starts from 200,000 also five years and then we’ll get 4% per year.

LADISLAS MAURICE: In this particular case, it’s not you put the money in term deposit at banks, correct?

KENT: Under the contract, the customer to sign to do this option three, uh the fixed deposit, there will clearly statement uh in the contracts that to ensure the funding would not be investing on some kind of high risk portfolio or stuff like that. So to make sure to ensure the funding would be kept safely in the bank account.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So how long is the residency valid for?

KENT: Actually, the whole program CM2H offers a 10 years golden visa, and after five years, the CM2H holders can apply for the Cambodian citizenship.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, so before we go to that topic, I must keep my term deposit for five years after which I can just take it back. What about the real estate? Is there a specific holding period for the real estate?

KENT: Oh, actually, no. We we don’t have an any rules and uh to regulate how long the person have to hold on to that property. It’s just flexibility is the most important for all our members.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Great. And after 10 years, what happens? Does one need to apply again, or ?

KENT: For right now, the news from the government side, from the General Department of immigration side would be have the intention to extend, but at the end of well maybe 10 years later, right now is too early to determine is it any extra calls or any how much the customer need to pay on extra, uh we still cannot say for sure at this point yet.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Anyways, it’s I don’t think it’s a huge deal. You buy real estate, you get a 10-year residency visa, you know, you’re locking a term deposit for five years, you’re good for 10 years, it’s pretty attractive as is.

CM2H family package options for dependents

LADISLAS MAURICE: Can one include family members?

KENT: Yes, we do have family package, so for the uh main applicant, they can, of course, they can choose option one, two, or three, and for the spouse or the children under 18 can also apply with the main applicant of the family package.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So can you elaborate a little bit more on the family package? Is it is it a big discount, is it almost free, or is it everyone must pay separately? Like what what’s how does it work concretely?

KENT: Okay. So, actually, the purpose of this CM2H mainly is for individual applicants only actually, in the very initial stage, but after that, when the people having well what we understand most of our applicants they do have families, and they want to move to have investment or business in Cambodia altogether as a family. So that’s why they want to also to bring in the spouse with a steady visa program to come with. So that’s why when the spouse also want to join in, they have to pay on top to join. The family package would be uh $35,000 each.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Even though Cambodia is a great place to to live with a family or as a retiree, etc., this is a country that is very focused on development and on business, and it is going out of its way to attract foreign business people who want to come here and help develop the country and invest in the country. So it’s not just something that you see in the the CM2H program. It’s also something you see in the passport program of the country. It’s also something that you see with regards to all the tax breaks that can be negotiated with the government when you come here with a larger project. You know, those are the sorts of things that are a lot harder to do if you go to Vietnam, if you go to Thailand, if you go to Malaysia, etc. Here, really, it’s it’s a red carpet for foreign investors. I spend a fair amount of time in Cambodia. I’ve invested money here as well and we’ve become licensed agents for the CM2H program, so we can help you with your application.

KENT: Yes.

Cambodia CM2H application process

LADISLAS MAURICE: Kent, can you talk us through the application process that our clients would go through. So let’s say I come to you. I say, hey, we have Jonathan. How does it go?

KENT: Well, actually, the whole process time is not that long. From the very day one until the customer get the uh CM2H visa stick on the passport, the whole process would be uh can be all done within two months, I would say, because uh it’s very easy and friendly for all the applicants at the very first stage. Because we will collect the customer information with the registration form and a photocopy of the passport for us, for the uh government uh for the immigration department to run the background check.

At this point of stage, the applicant no need to physically happens to be in Cambodia yet, so they can be anywhere around the world busy on their main things. And then once we process the background check, that will usually takes 5 to 7 working days, and then we will get the pass result. Once we get the pass result, okay, then the applicant need to plant the upcoming schedule to come to Cambodia. Because this pass result, the background check pass result, only valid for 1 month, so they can have the, yeah, they can have their schedule to plan within that one month time to finish the remaining process.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So when you drop everything you’re doing, flight to Cambodia.

KENT: Yeah, but on that stage, please uh remember that will takes around shortest time would be 5 working days to 10 working days to finish the process. So that would be that 5 working days to 10 working days time would be they have to plan for that.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay. So essentially, you give your passport information, fill out the form, you get initial approval from the immigration services and the security services that you’re good to go and then you need to come here for two weeks.

KENT: Yes. Yes. And this part will be the only extra costs that will happens because normally, no matter you choose option a uh option one, two, or three, it’s all including the fee already including there. We will not charge any and there’s no hidden cost in that for the upcoming 10 years time. I just mentioned the only hidden cost will be here because when the person I not really okay to stay here for 10 working days, can I shorten a bit? Yeah, sure. At this stage, you need to pay around $200 as a express fee to get a faster post process to finish the process within like maybe 5 working days.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay. Yeah. And what are some of the other benefits of the CM2H?

Getting a company registration and work permit with CM2H

KENT: Well, for sure, as you also mentioned, uh this program is target uh to all those investor and for the people want to do business here. So we will also include to help the CM2H members to register a local company and we will provide upcoming 10 years work permit for them, and then we will assist them to open their individual bank account or if necessary, after they open uh they register the company, we’ll assist them to open the uh company bank account as well.

At the same time, here in Cambodia, we do have foreign investment law, which means that as a foreigner, you are not allowed to hold the land title. Only the Cambodian can hold the land title. Here in Cambodia, we also have trust law. As a foreigner, while setting up a trust account can use the trust account to hold the land title for investment, of course. Yeah, so the trust service we will also provide and at the same time, because this program is from the uh government side, we under the Ministry of Interior and General Department of Immigration, so actually, everyone can treat us CM2H as a tool, as a platform, to get all the authentic information from us because I believe so many newcomers that uh the new new people coming to a new country, they not too familiar with the legal system, the taxation, then this is our jobs to provide some authentic parties or institutes to give some advice for our CM2H members.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. So concierge service.

KENT: Yes.

Banking in Cambodia

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, and I I have to say speaking from personal experience, banking in Cambodia, which this uh visa enables you to do very easily, banking in Cambodia is is a real pleasure. The banks are easy to deal with. The apps of the banks just work flawlessly. You can make international transfers out and in. There no capital controls. You really do not need to put that much money into a bank to have a private banker with whom you can just chat on Telegram. So whenever money comes from overseas, you just send them the documents and then you’re good. It’s a very seamless experience. It feels like the sort of banking I was used to in the offshore space, you know, 10 15 years ago that doesn’t really exist anymore. But here you still have this. It is very service and client-orientated.

KENT: Yeah. Yeah, so actually, nowadays in Cambodia, we become a cashless life already. In our pockets, we don’t have any money not necessarily to keep uh too much cash in the pocket. We all use the mobile app to do all sort of payment.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah. And on the other side, you can still go around with a lot of cash. You can withdraw like millions in cash from the bank if you want. It’s not a problem. You can deposit millions in cash into the bank, also not a problem. So the best of both worlds. Can you tell us about the path to citizenship? Because on on this channel, we’re quite passionate about this.

Naturalization in Cambodia as a CM2H resident

KENT: Even though it’s not that really solid details after five years. But like I already mentioned, after five years, you can apply for the Cambodian citizenship. At that point of time, for sure, we’ll have an interview with a General Department of Immigration Officer. They will consider what this applicant been doing in that five years time because the government, the country, really want to pay attention and want to draw the people to help this country to develop. So how to evaluate this thing the best way is to check for this five years of time, how much you contribute to this country? Like maybe, how much tax you’ve been paying, how many jobs you create for the local people, and what sort of business you are doing, that would be their consideration, too.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Without any Khmer language requirements?

KENT: Without. No. Yeah.

LADISLAS MAURICE: So it’s a different path to citizenship from the usual path to citizenship in Cambodia, where you you do need to learn Khmer. Here you don’t. It’s still a little vague, essentially. There’s no guarantee. What is guaranteed is that if you just get the CM2H and you retired and you chill, that’s not going to work. But if you’re actually coming here and doing business using the CM2H, then it very well may might work out for you thanks to the CM2H. But if you’d gone through the normal immigration route, potentially would not have worked out for you. Is it fair to say that the citizenship route is viable for people who actually move here and do actual legal business here.

KENT: Yes, of course. Of course.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Other cases not so much.

KENT: Yeah, because country, while they consider giving out the passport, the citizenship or not, they will also check because even though there’s no any regulation how many days you got to stay in Cambodia for each year, but when they check your entry record, they will see that if you really treat this country as your second home. If you just, oh, I buy in some uh condos, I only want some rental return and I never come back, well then, of course for this country, for the government consideration, then this might not be the right candidate to offer the citizenship.

Why get CM2H instead of a business visa or retirement visa?

LADISLAS MAURICE: What would you say to some detractors that say, well, in Cambodia, you can easily get a retirement visa or a one-year business visa for a few hundred dollars a month. Why would I go through the CM2H residency?

KENT: Well, I would say that the visa policy can be changing every years. Since the late 2025, the business visa policy already been tighten up for the people which could be very easy to get the business visa on arrival before. But then right now, it’s basically, it’s a no for the people to, oh, just walk into the immigration counter at the airport and then say, I want to get the business visa. No, sorry, you cannot do that anymore. So, which is why I mean that while the person want to be living and then to do business, investment in Cambodia, I believe all those people, they want to ensure that they can stay here for long time. And the long period of time, you don’t need to worry about for every year renew for their visas. Like what I said, the visa policy can be changed anytime. So maybe one day, maybe next year or two years later, I I mean maybe you no longer tend can maintain your retirement visa here that easy, or you cannot maintain your business visa that easy. So, that’s also one concern.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, that’s fair. Look, retirement visa for $300, easy, year-long business visa for, you know, 500, that’s bound not to remain this way. You know, whenever there’s an immigration program that is just too good to be true, it is too good to be true. It works for a little bit and then it stops working. This here is a much more secure way if you’re, you know, very serious about Cambodia to consolidate your position here in in the country. Yeah. And uh and objectively, it’s not like it’s particularly expensive when you look at the real estate and the the term deposit options.

KENT: Yes.

LADISLAS MAURICE: What are the top source countries of clients for you?

Who is applying for the CM2H residency?

KENT: Well, for sure top three would be Australian, Japanese, and uh European. And the people from China is not that many from the very initial stage.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, so less Chinese people now proportionately.

KENT: Yes.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah, interesting.

How to apply for CM2H Residency in Cambodia

LADISLAS MAURICE: There’s a whole guide on the CM2H program how everything works, etc., from A to Z. There’s a link below you can have access to it. And then using that link below as well, you can get in touch directly with ourselves and with Kent’s team, and we can help you through the whole process. Kent, thank you very much.

KENT: Thank you. Welcome.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Make sure to download my free ebook, 12 Mistakes to Avoid When Investing in International Real Estate, which you can find on my website, link below, and feel free to follow me on Instagram @theWanderingInvestor. I look forward to hearing from you.

Frequently Asked Questions Cambodia My Second Home Residency Program