DFDL, Aug 2020
I. Introduction
The Constitutional Law in Cambodia only allows nat- ural persons or legal entities with Cambodian nation- ality to own lands or immovable property. A Cambo- dian natural person refers to those who are citizens of Cambodian and hold Cambodian nationality. Accord- ing to Nationality Law of Cambodia, the Cambodian Nationality can be obtained through Citizenship by Birth, Full Adoption, Marriage or Nationalization. On the other hand, a Cambodian Legal Entity (the “Entity”) refers to an enterprise which is registered in Cambodia. A majority shareholder (the “Cambodian Shareholder”) with 51% shares or more must be Cam- bodian natural person(s) or Cambodian legal entity(s), while 49% shares or less might be hold by a foreigner (s) or foreign entity(s) (the “Foreign Shareholder”). These share percentages shall be stipulated in the Arti- cle of Incorporation. The law does not recognize any private agreement between shareholders which are against this provision. Thus, any change of share, which superseded the Entity’s nationality, shall be informed to the competent Ministries or Institutions.
In relation to the Constitutional Law, in 2010, a Law on Providing Foreigners with Ownership Right over Private Parts of Co-owned Building was promulgated, which has allowed foreigners to purchase, invest or own private units of co-owned building from the sec- ond floor up. However, the foreign ownership may not exceed 70 percent of the area size of all private units of a condominium. Foreigners are not authorized to acquire ownership rights in buildings located within 30 kilometers of the land borders of Cambodia except in Special Economic Zones and in other areas, as de- termined by the government. Furthermore, as the Roy- al Government of Cambodia makes available incen- tive to Qualified Investment Projects (QIP); therefore, any foreigner who may apply for land title in Cambo- dia through Cambodian Nationality, Long-term Lease, Land Concession or Land Holding Company.
II. Cambodian Nationality
Cambodian Nationality is one among other options that foreigners may choose in order to purchase or own any immovable property in Cambodia. Foreign- ers or foreign investors may apply for a Cambodian Nationality either by Marriage or Nationalization.
To obtain the Cambodian Nationality through Mar- riage requires a Foreigner, who is married to a Cam- bodian spouse, to register a Marriage Certificate in Cambodia. After that, the spouses shall live together for 3 years and shall live in Cambodia at least 12 months.
The Cambodian Nationality through Nationalization might be granted to any legal foreign investor, who has invested on any investment project, or a foreign donor who has donated an amount of money to devel- op economic or human rights in Cambodia.
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