160,000 foreigners registered on the FPCS app

Nearly 160,000 foreigners from 183 countries living in Cambodia have registered their details on the FPCS (Foreigners Present in Cambodia System) app, confirmed the Cambodian General Department of Immigration.

Foreigners Present in Cambodia System data

The new digital IT system was introduced by the Ministry of Interior and managed by the General Department of Immigration (GDI). H.E. Kiet Chantharith, Director General of Immigration shared the results this week. Minister of Interior Sar Kheng also praised the government for its efforts in managing and monitoring immigration on the Foreigners Present in Cambodia System app. He said the current government has better-managed foreigners and immigrants since the interior ministry established the General Department of Immigration (GDI) reported the Phnom Penh Post. The FPCS allows the Cambodian government to more easily track foreigners living in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The system allows authorities to monitor how many foreigners are currently in Cambodia and how many enter and leave the country on a daily basis. Earlier this year, the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Immigration said it would not issue visa extensions for foreigners who failed to be registered on the Foreigners Present in Cambodia System by July 1st 2020. H.E. Kiet Chantharith did admit that the accuracy and transparency could not be achieved without "complete declaration by owners of locations, buildings and the like where the foreigners are living." He asked everyone to "ensure the effectiveness of the application of the registration system of foreigners living in Cambodia. The data shows that there are about 110,000 foreigners currently in Cambodia. Foreigners who recently applied for visa extensions have registered their presence in the FPCS system.”

Foreigners living in Cambodia

In the 2019 census data, 89,786 immigrants from 11 countries applied for temporary or permanent residencies in Cambodia, which included 89,471 Vietnamese nationals. The Ministry of Interior said it "confiscated 37,436 irregular Cambodian administrative documents possessed by foreigners from 2017 to June 30 2019. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been a sharp reduction in foreigners entering the Kingdom. Foreign​ arrivals to Cambodia have reduced by three-folds to about 1 million, compared to the first six months of 2019. Currently, foreigners with irregular documents are being issued permanent residence permits valid for two years by the Ministry of Interior to ensure they complied with the law said the PP Post.