Cambodia VoA Queue Times in 2026: How Long Aussies Actually Wait at KTI, SAI and KOS

SAI (Siem Reap-Angkor) — the leisure-season spike

SAI opened in October 2023, sitting around 50km from the Angkor temple complex. The VoA desk is smaller than KTI's — typically two or three officers — but the international load is also smaller and less peaky. The queue is steady at 15-30 minutes for most of the year, but climbs sharply during the December-February peak Angkor leisure season and during the Pchum Ben weekend in October.

The reliability story at SAI in 2026 is steadier than KTI's. The desk runs the same officers for longer shifts, sticker stock is restocked on a regular daily schedule, and the booth has rarely run out except during the Pchum Ben spike. The biggest queue risk for Aussies is a Bangkok Airways arrival from BKK that lands just as a Vietnam Airlines arrival from SGN clears Immigration — the two queues collide for 30-40 minutes and then settle.

Aussies landing at SAI for Angkor tours often have a private driver waiting with a 60-minute parking allowance. If your VoA queue runs into that window, the driver will usually wait, but a courtesy SMS is appreciated. The full SAI airport guide covers transfers, SIM cards, and the practical arrival flow beyond the booth.

KOS (Sihanoukville) — the smallest queue, the highest variance

KOS is the smallest of the three Cambodian international airports. The VoA window is genuinely small — a single counter, one officer most of the day, two during the rare peak windows. The queue itself is rarely more than 10-15 minutes because the inbound load is low. The trade-off is sticker stock: low daily throughput means the booth restocks less frequently, and when it runs out the resupply can take overnight.

Most Aussies do not land at KOS as a direct international arrival. The realistic route is to fly into KTI and connect onward by domestic flight or road. If you are landing at KOS, the VoA is workable — the queue is the shortest of the three — but the eVisa is markedly safer given how rarely you get a second chance to fix a stocking shortfall on a Friday night.

How much faster is the eVisa lane in practice?

The eVisa lane at all three airports is materially faster than the VoA booth. The Immigration officer scans your eVisa PDF (or printed copy), stamps the passport, and waves you through. Total time in queue is typically 5-15 minutes regardless of airport — even at KTI's 3pm-6pm afternoon cluster, the eVisa lane stays under 20 minutes because the booth queue and the eVisa queue are separate physical lines.

The e-Gate trial and Australian passports

Cambodia is running an e-Gate trial at KTI for selected nationalities as of mid-2026, but Australian passports are not yet eligible. ASEAN passports — Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia itself — get e-Gate access. Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand are still routed through the staffed eVisa lane. For Aussies, the practical implication is that the eVisa lane is your fastest option in 2026; the e-Gate is not yet on the table.

The eVisa is approved in 3 business days and delivered as a printable PDF by email. It is checked end-to-end before it reaches Immigration, with a free resubmission if any field needs a correction. The Australian application walkthrough covers every step, and the full pillar covers eligibility and timing.

Aussie arrival tips by flight time

The single most useful queue-management lever is your flight time. The same physical VoA booth is a 25-minute wait at 6am and a 75-minute wait at 4pm. If you are still booking, the morning red-eye from Singapore is the calmest window. If you have already booked, the tips below match the most common Aussie arrival patterns.

• 6am red-eye from Singapore into KTI — VoA queue is at its calmest of the day at 20-30 minutes. Aim to be off the plane and at the booth inside ten minutes; the early-arrival window closes fast once the next wave lands at 8am.
• Afternoon Singapore flight into KTI (lands 3pm-4pm) — the worst single window. Pre-apply for the eVisa if your trip is more than four business days away. If you are committed to VoA, prepare to wait 60-90 minutes and arrange a flexible transfer.
• Bangkok Airways into SAI from BKK — typically lands at 10am and 4pm. The 10am arrival hits a 20-minute VoA queue; the 4pm arrival can spike to 45-60 minutes if a Vietnam Airlines flight lands simultaneously.
• Direct KOS arrival from Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur — rare for Aussies. Queue is short but plan around sticker-stockout risk by pre-applying for the eVisa.
• Connecting through KTI to SAI or KOS by domestic flight — clear KTI Immigration first, then re-enter the domestic terminal. The eVisa lane saves the most time on connections under three hours.

Next steps and related reading for Australians: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, bookmark our Cambodia visa hub for Australian citizens as the single canonical reference, skim the FAQ on Cambodia visa visa types for quick answers, and use our glossary of Cambodia visa terms to decode any acronym in this guide.