Overstay fines will be waived for tourists stuck in Cambodia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has announced.
Due to coronavirus, tourists stranded in the country have faced disruption to flights, as a large share of countries decided to close their land, sea and air borders, VisaGuide.World reports.
According to the foreign ministry’s statement, some foreign tourists who arrived in Cambodia after January 1 have been ineligible to return to their home nations as there is no availability of flights.
“The Royal Government of Cambodia has decided, effective from April 3, 2020, to grant an automatic extension of tourist visa (Visa T) to those foreign citizens and to exempt their visa overstay fines until they will be able to depart Cambodia,” the ministry’s statement reads.
Amid coronavirus pandemic, the country also decided to temporarily suspend the issuance of tourist and entry visas for one month, as an effort to prevent the spread of the infection.
Besides, all foreign citizens with valid existing visas will be subject to coronavirus test, before being allowed to enter the country.
From March 17, Cambodia banned the entry for citizens coming from Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Iran, for at least 30 days, considering that these countries are highly affected by the virus.
The government decision will remain in place, until further notice.
More than 100 persons have contracted the virus in Cambodia, so far, as the country seeks to find a new precautionary measure in the fight against the virus.
As yet, a total of 1,349,956 persons worldwide have tested positive for the virus, and 74,822 persons have died.
The United States has the largest number of COVID-19 infections (367,650), making the country the new epicentre of the disease, followed by Spain (136,675), Italy (132,547), Germany (103,375) and France (98,010).