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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawThailand Immigration LawCambodia Unveils System Similar to Thailand's TM 30 Reporting

Cambodia Unveils System Similar to Thailand's TM 30 Reporting

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Cambodia.  We are also discussing the TM 30 reporting system. For those who are unaware what TM 30 is, Thailand has recently re-unveiled, if you will, their TM 30 reporting system.  It has actually existed for some decades now but it really hasn't been enforced. Essentially, those who are in the Kingdom in Non-immigrant status need to report their address utilizing the TM 30 form or the TM 30 online system to basically let Immigration know where they will be staying. It should be noted, that specifically it is actually the duty of the landlord to deal with this but for practical purposes it is resulting in something of a burden on those foreigners in the Kingdom because where the landlord doesn't do it, it can cause problems for the foreigner to maintain their status. We have done a number of videos on this channel. I urge you to go to the search function, just type in TM 30 and you will find close to a half dozen, maybe more videos specifically talking about the TM 30 and the forms related thereto. 

It recently came to my attention that Cambodia is now rolling out a system similar to the TM 30 system here in Thailand and I bring this up for two reasons. One - to provide a little bit of perspective but I have also seen comments on this channel throughout Facebook and just sort of general comments from people in person who say "well I am seriously looking at moving out of Thailand because these new protocols are becoming a little bit too much of a burden to maintain," and they are looking at leaving. The fact of the matter is, my opinion, all things being considered, Thailand is probably, in fact I would say is the best jurisdiction in Southeast Asia for those wishing to simply live, retire, live long term.   That being said they are tightening up the rules associated with that. We have done many other videos on the recent changes to the Retirement Visa regime and they are also changes to the Business Visa regime etc. 

That being said, in a recent article from the Khmer Times and that website is khmertimeskh.com.  The title of the article is Sar Kheng Orders Strict Registration of Foreigners in Cambodia.  Quoting directly, "Interior Minister Sar Kheng has instructed all residence owners around the country of the need to report foreigners who come to stay in their residences to strengthen Immigration Law enforcement." Quoting further, "To strengthen Immigration law enforcement and to improve the registration of foreigners residing in the country is necessary to ensure security, public order and social safety.” the statement said.  The Interior Ministry provided a memorandum which contains seven points including such as the requirement for all residence owners to report foreigners residing in their property to the commune police officials in their location within 24 hours."  So as you can see this system is similar, if not perhaps almost a clone if you will, of the Thai system for TM 30 reporting, address reporting of foreigners in the Kingdom right down to the reporting window of 24 hours which is also the case with respect to TM 30 here in Thailand. 

So I guess what I am trying to say with this video is those who are looking at Cambodia as a possible option as opposed to Thailand, a possible alternative, it may be an alternative and one's own life decisions, lifestyle choices are one's own. Make them as you will.  But that being said I don't think that there's any for lack of better term “escaping” a lot of these protocols here in Southeast Asia. The other thing to keep in mind we have done another video for this channel I should say about Vietnam. We will get into that more deeply in another video, but Vietnam also has a similar regime to Cambodia wherein they have this type of TM 30 style of reporting. 

So the thing to take away from this video is Thailand isn't the only jurisdiction in Southeast Asia that is utilizing these methodologies and I think that these other jurisdictions here in Southeast Asia are going to become more stringent over time, not less so.