Damaged or Expiring US Passport? Fix It Before Applying for Your Cambodia eVisa
A torn cover, a washed-out laminate, or an expiry date inside six months can stop your Cambodia trip before it starts — at the US gate, not the Phnom Penh border. The fix is simple but the order matters: renew the passport first, then apply for the eVisa on the new book.
Can I use a damaged or soon-to-expire US passport for a Cambodia eVisa?
No — fix the passport first. A US passport with torn pages, water damage, a peeling bio-page laminate, or a punched corner can be treated as invalid, and one with less than 6 months of validity from your date of entry can get you turned away at the US gate before you ever reach Cambodia. Because the Cambodia eVisa is locked to one exact passport number, the safe sequence is always the same: renew or replace the passport first, wait for the new book, then apply for the eVisa using the new passport details. Apply on a damaged or expiring book and you risk paying for a visa you cannot use.
Conclusiones clave
- A damaged US passport — torn pages, water damage, a peeling or bubbled bio-page laminate, a punched corner — can get you refused at the airline gate or by Cambodian Immigration, even with an approved eVisa.
- Your US passport needs at least 6 months of validity from your date of entry into Cambodia. Inside that window, renew before you apply, not after.
- The eVisa is tied to one exact passport number. If you renew after applying, the new book has a new number and the old eVisa no longer matches you — a costly sequencing mistake.
- Renew the passport first, let the new book arrive, then apply for the Cambodia eVisa using the new passport details. Always in that order.
- Routine State Department renewal runs several weeks; expedited service is faster, and a life-or-death emergency has its own same-week embassy path — build the timeline backward from your flight.
Why a damaged or expiring passport stops the trip, not the eVisa
The mistake we see most often on the Edge-Case desk is sequencing. A US traveler notices their passport is a little worse for wear, or that the expiry date is closer than they thought, and they figure they will deal with it later — apply for the Cambodia eVisa now, sort the passport out before the flight. That order is backward, and it is the single most expensive thing you can get wrong on this trip.
Here is the chain. The Cambodia eVisa is issued against one specific passport number. The airline checks your physical passport at the US gate against both that eVisa and the 6-month validity rule. Cambodian Immigration checks the physical book again on arrival. A torn, water-stained, or near-expiry passport can fail any one of those three checkpoints — and an approved eVisa does nothing to save you, because the visa is only as good as the passport it is attached to.
So the question is never "can I apply with this passport?" It is "should I renew first?" This guide covers when a worn passport crosses the line into refused, how the 6-month validity rule actually bites at the gate, and the exact safe order to renew then apply. If your book is in good shape and just needs a sanity check, our Cambodia passport requirements for Americans lays out the full standard. When you are ready and your passport is sorted, you can apply in a few minutes.
What counts as a damaged passport (and what does not)
Not every scuff is a problem. Passports are meant to be carried, and a soft cover or a few creased pages will not stop you. The line that matters is whether the damage affects the integrity of the book or the legibility of your data — your photo, your bio details, and the machine-readable zone of code at the bottom of the bio page. Once any of those is compromised, an airline or an immigration officer is entitled to treat the passport as invalid.
Damage that can get you refused
- Water damage — pages stuck together, ink that has run, a swollen or warped book. Washing-machine passports are a classic, and they are almost always rejected.
- A peeling, bubbled, or lifted bio-page laminate. The clear film over your photo and details is a security feature; once it is separating, the passport is considered compromised even if everything underneath is still readable.
- Tears, holes, or missing pages — anything torn out, cut, or punched. A hole-punched corner usually means the book was cancelled by a passport authority and is no longer valid for travel.
- A detached or loose cover, or pages coming away from the binding.
- Unofficial marks on the bio or visa pages — stickers, ink, a child's drawing, anything written by hand that is not an official stamp.
Preguntas frecuentes
Can I use a damaged passport for the Cambodia eVisa?
You should not. A passport with water damage, torn or missing pages, a peeling bio-page laminate, a punched corner, or unofficial marks can be treated as invalid by the airline at the US gate or by Cambodian Immigration on arrival — and an approved eVisa does not override that, because the visa is only as good as the passport it is attached to. Replace the damaged book first, then apply for the eVisa using the new passport details.
My US passport expires in 5 months — can I still travel to Cambodia?
No. Cambodia requires at least 6 months of validity from your date of entry, and the airline enforces it at the US departure gate. If your passport expires inside that 6-month window relative to your arrival date, you can be denied boarding before you ever leave the country. Renew first, wait for the new book, then apply for the eVisa on the new passport.
Should I renew my passport before or after applying for the eVisa?
Before — always. The Cambodia eVisa is bound to the exact passport number on the application. When you renew, the new book gets a new number, so an eVisa filed against the old number no longer matches the document you will carry. The fixed order is: renew or replace the passport, wait for it to arrive, then apply for the eVisa using the new passport number and a scan of the new bio page.
What if I already applied for the eVisa on my old passport and then renewed?
The old eVisa is tied to the old passport number and will not match your new book at the gate or the border. There is no way to transfer an eVisa to a different passport number after the fact, so you will generally need to apply again on the new passport. This is exactly why the renew-first order matters — applying on a book you are about to replace risks paying for a visa you cannot use.
How long does a US passport renewal take, and will it fit before my trip?
Routine renewal takes several weeks and is the cheapest option; expedited service is faster for an added fee, with paid faster mail delivery available on top. Build your timeline backward from your flight and remember the eVisa itself needs 3 business days once your new passport arrives. If you are close to your departure date, pay for expedited service rather than risk a missed flight.
My passport was lost or stolen right before my Cambodia trip — what do I do?
If you are still in the US, a State Department passport agency can handle urgent and life-or-death emergency cases on a compressed timeline. If you are already overseas in the region, the nearest US embassy or consulate — including the US Embassy in Phnom Penh — can issue an emergency replacement. Note that emergency books are sometimes short-dated and may not clear the 6-month rule on their own, so plan a full renewal once you are home before booking the next trip.
Fuentes
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