Male foreigners who arrive in Cambodia will have to be under the age of 50 if they want to marry a Cambodian woman. Foreigners who earn less than $2,550 per month will also barred from marrying local women.
The Cambodian Foreign Ministry has said restrictions will not apply to weddings taking place overseas, although a spokesman described marriages between old men and young women as “inappropriate.”
Cambodia imposed a temporary ban on foreign marriages in 2008 to prevent human trafficking, amid concern over a sharp rise in the number of brokered unions involving South Korean men and poor Cambodian women.
That ban followed an International Organisation for Migration report that said many Cambodian brides suffered abuse after moving to South Korea in marriages hastily arranged by brokers who made large profits.
The restriction was lifted about eight months later after new laws were introduced to prevent women becoming mail-order brides.
