Getting married in Cambodia

Hi...I also want to know..how will 2 foreigners ( USA and Philippines) get married here without going back home...

Thank you

Best Simple advice is DO IT IN THAILAND or VIETNAM. With the necessary "permission" required from the Cambodian forein ministry and the other paper work involved, it's much much simpler (3-4 days) in the countries mentioned. You just need a certificate (from your embassy) that you are single/divorce document and a passport, Same for her.

Hope this helps. Am doing the same in 3 months!

Anyone have info on western woman and Khmer man marriage / visa regulations?

thanks..brighton...I will try to do that,,,,

I myself will be beginning the process of marrying my Khmer fiancée of 2 years soon, the below information is up to date, I am not sure of the exact prices for everything yet as information is hard to obtain here, but from friends who have married here I understand that it is not cheap and could end up costing a couple thousand dollars (without the wedding). Some people have a local wedding ceremony, but don't go through the legal process (many over 50's seem to be doing this due to the age restriction on foreigners marrying a Khmer woman).   Legal Require­ments for Get­ting Mar­ried in Cambodia

Allot­ted time:

Allow at least 31–52 days from arrival in Cam­bo­dia to wed­ding date to process paper­work (21 days of res­i­dency, 10 days before a wed­ding cer­e­mony can pro­ceed and an addi­tional 3 weeks to post Inten­tion to Marry, unless a Cer­tifi­cate of No Imped­i­ment has been obtained pre­vi­ously in your home coun­try). We rec­om­mend giv­ing your­self more time due to prepa­ra­tion, week­ends, hol­i­days or unex­pected delays.



Nec­es­sary legal documents:

Please note that all doc­u­ments must be sub­mit­ted in Cam­bo­dian (Khmer) or Eng­lish. Con­tact the Embassy in your home coun­try or your Embassy in Cam­bo­dia for an autho­rized trans­la­tor.  If your doc­u­ments are trans­lated, be pre­pared to sub­mit the orig­i­nal copies in your native lan­guage for ver­i­fi­ca­tion as well as the trans­lated version.
•Cer­ti­fied copy of birth certificates
•Valid Pass­ports and cer­ti­fied copies (obtained from your Embassy in Cam­bo­dia or the Cam­bo­dian Embassy in your res­i­dent country)
•Visas and photocopies
•Cer­tifi­cate of No Impediment*/Affidavit of Sin­gle Status
•Affi­davit of Mar­riage (sworn at the Civil Reg­istry Office in Cam­bo­dia before the Con­sol or Vice-Consol)
•Crim­i­nal Records
•Cer­tifi­cate on Pro­fes­sion (show­ing monthly income)
•Divorce or death cer­tifi­cates, if applicable
•Med­ical Cer­tifi­cate from Cal­mette Hos­pi­tal in Phnom Penh
•Mar­riage Appli­ca­tion Form (a sim­i­lar form exists for two for­eign­ers apply­ing for mar­riage in Cam­bo­dia): A writ­ten request for mar­riage appli­ca­tions must be sent to the Min­istry of For­eign Affairs. You will need to know the area or province that you plan to marry. The appli­ca­tion lists sup­port­ing doc­u­ments that must be attached to the appli­ca­tion. Some of these doc­u­ments may need to be legal­ized at the couple's Embassy in Cam­bo­dia or prior to leav­ing at the Cam­bo­dian Embassy in your res­i­dent coun­try. Upon approval of the bride and groom's appli­ca­tion, the appli­ca­tion must then be sub­mit­ted to the Civil Registrar.

Legal require­ments to get mar­ried:
•Cer­e­mony (Civil/Religious)

Civil and reli­gious wed­dings are legally rec­og­nized wed­dings pre­formed in Cam­bo­dia. The cer­e­mony is pre­formed in Cam­bo­dian. If either party does not speak Cam­bo­dian,
an inter­preter should be hired.
•Age and Relation

The bride must be at least 18 years of age. The groom must be at least 20 years of age. They can­not be related by blood, mar­riage or adoption.

Note: Non-Cambodian Male Cit­i­zens plan­ning to marry a Cam­bo­dian woman must be no older than 50 years of age, with a monthly income that gen­er­ates a min­i­mum of USD $2,500.
•Wit­nesses

Two wit­nesses over 18 years of age must be present for the cer­e­mony and pro­vide their passports.
•Reg­istry

Both par­ties must stay within the dis­trict of their Embassy or Con­sulate in Cam­bo­dia for 21 days prior to fil­ing a Notice of Inten­tion to Marry. We rec­om­mend mak­ing an appoint­ment in advance with the Con­sol or Vice-Consol, to be assured that you can deliver, in per­son, your oath of inten­tion to marry upon the com­ple­tion of your 21 day res­i­dency (this does not include the day you arrived).



Note: Take all paper­work and pho­to­copies of each to your Embassy and Civil Reg­istry Office in Cambodia.

At least 10 days prior to the wed­ding and 21 full days since your arrival in Cam­bo­dia, you will need to file your Notice of Inten­tion to Marry with the Civil Reg­istry Office. You will need to know where you will marry and who you plan to use as your mar­riage offi­cer. Here, you will also com­plete and sign an Affi­davit of Mar­riage.



Finally the Notice of Inten­tion to Marry will be posted, at the Con­sulate, for 3 weeks. Pend­ing objec­tions, your Embassy can pro­vide you with a Let­ter of No Imped­i­ment to Mar­riage. Bride and groom will show pass­ports and/or divorce or death certificates.

British Cit­i­zens can shorten their wait­ing period by apply­ing for a Super­in­ten­dent Cer­tifi­cate of No Imped­i­ment prior to leav­ing for Cam­bo­dia. You would apply at the Reg­is­trar in your res­i­dent dis­trict of the United Kingdom.

Mar­riage certificate:
•Wed­dings must be reg­is­tered with the Civil Reg­istry Office in order to be rec­og­nized. Offi­cers can come to your wed­ding to sign doc­u­men­ta­tion. The new­ly­weds will give their thumbprints to reg­is­ter and receive their Mar­riage Certificate.
•Mar­riage Cer­tifi­cates are issued from the Cheif of Com­mune, from the region in which the wed­ding cer­e­mony takes place.

*A Cer­tifi­cate of No Imped­i­ment, is also known as a Sin­gle Sta­tus Affi­davit, Sin­gle Sta­tus Statu­tory Dec­la­ra­tion, Cer­tifi­cate of No Record,  a Cer­tifi­cate of Legal Capac­ity to Con­tract Mar­riage, Cer­tifi­cate of Nulla Osta or a Cer­tifi­cate de cou­tume (plus an MP2A form).



Note: This infor­ma­tion can change at any given moment.

Cambodia Marriage Registrar's Office
Phnom Penh Capital Hall
# 69, Preah Monivong Blvd., Sangkat Srah
Chak, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh

Cambodia
Tel/Fax:  +855 23 430 681   +855 23 430 681

Hi! I am a filipino living in Cambodia, I have been separated from husband for 5yearsa can i file my divorce paper here for my husband since no divorce granted in our country. Any help please thanks.

I am going through this process right now in 2018. the information Rarky has posted is very good info and generally what is still required in 2018. But. The one thing I'm finding is that people don't necessarily go by the book. I read the rules, got all the documents. On the website of the minister of foreign affairs it says "5 days" for the first step when you post the initial application but when we got to that step they told us 3 weeks (i already had my statement in leu of certificate of non-impedement from my embassy), but if we pay them $300 it will take 1 day.

In Cambodia, if you don't have a long time that you are able to wait, be prepared to grease some palms.

Hello everybody,

I have a query that want to ask , if anyone can help will be really appreciated.

I am a Canadian citizen and I am engaged with Cambodian girl .  We are planning to get married in May this year . 
So as I was researching the process , it's says that I have to stay 21 days in Cambodia before can apply for marriage certificate..
now my question is , are those 21 days should be consecutive days .
I have been to Cambodia two times for total of 17 days ...   so will this be counted or not ??

Thanks
Gautam

Hello.

Although I don't understand the story (you have only met her during 17 days in total and want to marry her?) (or does she also live in Canada?) I will answer to the original question.

You (and her) have to be present in Cambodia during the process of getting permission to marry. That could easily take up 3 weeks so the period of 21 days is probably meant to have you stay previous to the marriage.

Hope this helps.

Joe
Cambodia expert
Expat.com team

Thanks Joe

For ur response,  what I understood is the process will take time that's why those 21 days but not necessary .. 👍. And Yes my  fiancée lives in Cambodia ..  we know each other for 3 years  through social media., and personally as well.  so i know her enough 😊 .. hopefully 🤞🏼

Hi Joe,

I have a few questions of my own.

I'm a UK citizen and I will be (hopefully) marrying my cambodian boyfriend this summer. We both live in Thailand together and will be going to Cambodia for a month to sort out our paper work (we've technically already had the wedding).

1. Is the waiting time 21 days before or after I sign my affidavit at the British embassy?
2. I'll be getting my superintendent registrar certificate when I go back to the uk in April - does this speed up the 21 days waiting time?
3. Whilst I'm waiting 21 days, can I prepare other areas of the marriage procedure, such as going to get the health certificate and filling out the marriage application at the ministry of affairs?
4. I will get a 30 visa to visit Cambodia - I know recently the  visa rules have changed, will I be able to extend my 30 day visa if needed to complete the wedding procedure?
5. Can I just pay extra to get the whole thing done quicker?

Much thanks!

Nicole

Hello Nicole.

This was posted before and it indicates that you need at least 52 days before marriage.

"Allow at least 31–52 days from arrival in Cam­bo­dia to wed­ding date to process paper­work (21 days of res­i­dency, 10 days before a wed­ding cer­e­mony can pro­ceed and an addi­tional 3 weeks to post Inten­tion to Marry, unless a Cer­tifi­cate of No Imped­i­ment has been obtained pre­vi­ously in your home coun­try). We rec­om­mend giv­ing your­self more time due to prepa­ra­tion, week­ends, hol­i­days or unex­pected delays."

You can do things while waiting, medical certificate at Calamette hospital. Your boyfriend also has to get documents which he can apply for at the commune chief or sangkat.

Prepare everything you can get from UK, don't wait til you're in Cambodia.

You can come in on a tourist visa, valid 30 days, which can one time be extended with another 30 days.
If you want to be sure, come in on an Ordinary visa and extend it for 6 months with an EG extension of stay, applying you are searching for a job as a teacher.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Joe
Cambodia expert
Expat.com

Marriage between a Cambodian citizen and foreigner must be voluntary and shall comply with the law and other relevant norms of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Under Cambodian law, no one can force someone to get married with other without his or her consent unless they are minor in the age of 16 years that should have the special consent from parents.

Be remembered that, the marriage prepared by marriage agencies, brokers or business companies shall be strictly prohibited. Fake or fraudulent marriage for labor, human trafficking or sexual exploitation shall be strictly prohibited.

As mentioned above, in Sub-Decree Nº 183 (RGC) of November 3, 2008 on Regulating Formalities and Procedures for Marriage between Cambodian Citizens and Foreigners, in order to be married to a Khmer citizen, foreigners shall complete formalities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation by attaching documents as follows:
•    Marriage application form;
•    Copy of valid passport and entry visa into Cambodia;
•    A document certifying that the applicant is single issued by competent authorities of the proper country of foreigner;
•    Medical certificate issued by competent authority in the Kingdom of Cambodia;
•    Criminal record issued by competent authority of the proper country of the foreigner; and
•    A document highlighting the applicant's profession(s) issued by competent authorities of the foreigner to certify that the applicant is capable of providing for the family
•    Copy of passport and document certifying that the applicant is single shall be legalized by their Embassies or Consulates in the Kingdom of Cambodia.