How Much Does It Cost to Leave? Passport Affordability in Southeast Asian Capitals

JAKARTA - For many workers in Southeast Asia’s migrant-sending countries, a passport is the first document that determines whether legal mobility is possible. Only after securing one can workers begin applying for visas, entering formal migration channels, or accessing recruitment agencies and labour protection mechanisms.

In Cambodia’s Phnom Penh, a minimum-wage worker needs to save nearly half their monthly earnings just to afford a passport. In Bangkok, it takes barely two days of work. In Jakarta, it's somewhere in between, that’s about a week's wages for a chance at legal migration.

Getting a passport can cost workers in Southeast Asian capitals anywhere from a few days' wages to nearly a month's salary.

In countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar, where millions migrate for jobs each year, passport costs are enough to delay or derail plans to work overseas.

So before visas and contracts, the million-dollar question that migrant workers face everywhere in Southeast Asia is, "Can I afford a passport?"

Labor-Sending Countries: Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Timor-Leste

Indonesia sends approximately nine million workers overseas, one of the largest labor-exporting populations in the region. For these workers, the 10-year passport costs Rp 950,000 against Jakarta’s minimum wage of Rp 5,729,876. That reaches 16.6 percent, with processing time taking four working days through online applications.

The five-year option at Rp 650,000 represents 11.3 percent but workers must renew sooner and pay fees again. The two-tier structure creates inequality by default. Workers who can afford Rp 950,000 upfront get better long-term value, but those limited to Rp 650,000 may face higher cumulative costs over time.

The Philippines, one of the Southeast Asian countries that rely heavily on remittances, makes passports accessible at 5.3 percent of minimum wage. Manila's ₱18,070 monthly minimum, calculated as ₱695 per day across 26 working days, means the ₱950 passport costs roughly a week's wages. The 10-year validity allows workers to plan long-term migration without renewal costs. Processing takes 12 working days through the Department of Foreign Affairs online system.

Over in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, the minimum wage figure of US$210 applies only to the garment, textile, footwear, and travel goods sectors employing around 900,000 workers. No universal minimum wage exists for other industries.

That means, for garment workers, the US$100 passport for 10-year validity costs 47.6 percent of monthly income. Processing takes 15 days, the longest in the region, compounding the financial burden with extended waiting time.

Laos has a US$60 electronic passport. When converted at 21.532 kip per dollar, this costs approximately ₭1,293,000 against the ₭2,500,000 minimum wage of the capital Vientiane. That reaches roughly 52 percent. Processing takes up to 10 days depending on application backlog. 

Up in Myanmar, capital Naypindaw’s statutory minimum wage is MMK 7,800 per day. The country operates a six-day working week. Using 26 working days per month produces a monthly minimum of MMK 202,800. The MMK 45,000 passport costs about 22.2 percent of their monthly minimum wage. Processing usually takes around five days. 

But this calculation also assumes that workers actually get the legally mandated minimum wage. In reality, enforcement is weak, and since 2021 many workers earn below that or rely on irregular jobs. The current political instability has also pushed more people to cross into Thailand without proper papers, which leaves them more exposed to exploitation and other risks.

Timor-Leste's passport costs US$50 for standard processing against a minimum wage of US$115 monthly, which hasn’t been changed since 2012. That reaches 43.5 percent for Timorese’s labor migrants who mostly move to Australia or other Southeast Asian countries. Processing requires 10 working days through the government's Balcão Único portal. Express processing at US$75 for three days or urgent at US$150 for one day remain financially out of reach for minimum-wage workers.

Labor-Receiving Countries: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei

Malaysia hosts approximately 2.13 million foreign workers as of October 2025, mainly from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and the Philippines. The RM 200 passport costs 11.8 percent of Kuala Lumpur's RM 1,700 minimum wage. Malaysia offers only five-year passports currently and processing takes 5 working days through online applications.

But Malaysian workers who migrate abroad tend to move into higher-skilled roles in Singapore, Brunei, or further afield, where the cost of a passport isn’t what makes or breaks the decision to leave. The 11.8 percent figure speaks more to accessibility for workers inside Malaysia, but in regional labor flows the country mostly serves as a destination rather than a source.

Up north in Thailand, the country hosts nearly 4 million foreign workers as of 2025, with the majority coming from neighbouring countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Bangkok's minimum wage is ฿12,000 monthly, calculated as ฿400 daily across 30 days according to Ministry of Labour standards. The 10-year passport costs ฿1,500, representing 12.5 percent. Processing takes just two working days, the fastest in the region. 

That said, Thailand depends heavily on foreign workers for low-paid jobs in sectors like construction, factories and fisheries. The ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, formerly known as the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, says that although Thailand has policies to manage and legalise migrant labour, the system does not work well in practice because borders are hard to control and formal recruitment is expensive and slow. 

Located between Malaysia and Indonesia at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore hosts migrant workers while sending relatively few workers abroad. Those who do migrate are typically highly skilled professionals for whom passport costs are negligible. The country has no universal minimum wage, using instead a Progressive Wage Model (PWM) with sector-specific floors ranging from S$1,900 to S$2,000 monthly for lower-wage workers.

The median wage for an average Singaporean sits at S$5,500, and a passport costs S$70 for online applications with 10-year validity and 14 days of processing. Against median wage, this represents 1.3 percent. The Progressive Wage Model floors apply mainly to foreign workers in Singapore rather than citizens migrating outward, making the median wage a more appropriate reference point when assessing whether a passport is affordable or not.

Brunei, a tiny-but-rich country that sits in the northern part of the Borneo island, hosts foreign workers primarily from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines but sends relatively few workers abroad, with most outbound Bruneians moving into professional positions.

Bandar Seri Begawan, its capital, maintains a minimum wage of BND 500 per month under the order that came into force in July 2023. This rate applies to full-time employees in the first phase industries such as banking, finance and ICT, and it does not automatically apply to all workers or all sectors nationwide unless and until those sectors are included in later phases of the rollout.

The B$60 passport, valid for five years, represents 12 percent. Processing takes three working days according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidance for embassy applications. 

What the Raw Data Doesn’t Tell

Regional migration patterns show millions of migrant workers moving within Southeast Asia. Labor flows primarily from Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, or even outside the ASEAN region in a costly procedure.

But headline figures on passport affordability often understate the real barriers workers face. 

Official passport fees exclude a range of additional costs that most applicants cannot avoid, mainly birth certificates, national ID cards, passport photos, photocopies, police clearances, transport to passport offices and lost wages from time off work. These extras can add 10 to 20% on top of the passport fee, or even more.

Minimum wage is a useful baseline for the metrics but often understates the actual living costs and what actually happens on the field.

In Cambodia, labor unions have documented that actual living costs far exceed minimum wage levels. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance estimates that a garment worker needs about 2.64 million Cambodian riel (around US$656) a month to reach a basic living standard, based on its 2024 Asia Floor Wage benchmark, while actual take-home pay typically remains in the low-US$200 range, even for workers earning above the statutory minimum.

In this context, even a US$100 passport represents a significant financial burden.

But passports are only the first document on the lengthy checklist a potential migrant worker would need to fulfill before stepping their feet abroad. After that, usually comes formal recruitment channels that often operate under an even more expensive process.

Research by the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute shows that many of ASEAN’s worker-protection and managed migration policies fall short once implemented. In practice, entrenched labour brokers and expensive official channels often leave workers in debt and vulnerable to exploitation, while also driving irregular migration across Southeast Asia.