Cambodia eVisa Edge Cases for Australians: 2026 Specialist Guide (PRs, Dual Citizens, Name Changes, Lost Passports + 10 More)

Name changes, marriages, and the MRZ rule

Around 4% of the rejections our team sees come from recently-married Aussies whose name on the application does not match the name printed on their current passport. It is one of the most preventable rejections, and one of the most emotional — because it usually surfaces three weeks before a honeymoon flight, when there is no time to renew the passport without paying for priority service.

The technical rule: Cambodian Immigration's scanner reads the machine-readable zone (MRZ) at the bottom of the passport photo page. The MRZ is the two lines of capital letters and chevrons (<<) that the system reads automatically. The name on your eVisa application must match the MRZ character-for-character. Not the visual name printed at the top of the page — the MRZ. They are usually the same, but the MRZ is the authoritative version.

Practical translation: if you have legally changed your name (deed poll, marriage certificate, divorce) but your passport still shows the old name, the MRZ still shows the old name. Apply for the eVisa under the old name. The visa, the boarding pass, and the passport will all line up at Cambodian Immigration, even if your driver's licence and Medicare card now say something different. Cambodia doesn't see those documents.

If you want to travel under your new name, you renew the passport first. DFAT passport renewal takes around 3 weeks for standard service, or 2 business days for the priority service at a passport office. Once the new passport is in your hand with the new MRZ on it, apply for the Cambodia eVisa under the new name. The Cambodia eVisa rejected — what to do guide has the broader fix flow if a name mismatch has already bounced your application.

The 6-month passport rule — the most-bumped Aussie

If there is one rule that bumps more Australians at the gate than any other, this is it. Cambodian Immigration requires your passport to have at least 6 months of validity remaining FROM your planned date of arrival in Cambodia — not from the date you apply for the eVisa. A passport that expires in September 2026 and an arrival date in May 2026 gives you 4 months of validity at arrival, which is under the threshold, which means a denial.

Airlines enforce this rule at the Australian gate before you even leave the country. The Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and AirAsia ground staff at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth all check passport validity against Cambodian entry rules before they issue your boarding pass. If you are under the 6-month window, you do not board. The visa, even if it is approved, does not save you — the airline runs its own check and the 6-month rule is the one they hit on most often.

If you are inside the 6-month window: renew the passport before you apply for the eVisa, full stop. The DFAT priority passport service is the express option at 2 business days, and it is genuinely fast — book it online, attend a passport office in person, collect the new passport, then apply for the Cambodia eVisa with the new passport number and a fresh scan of the new bio page. The combined timeline is roughly 5-7 business days end-to-end, which still works for any trip more than two weeks away. The Smartraveller advisory is worth a quick read while the new passport is in production.

Criminal records, lost passports, and diplomatic passports

Three smaller edge cases that come up less often but matter a lot when they do. None of them follow the standard eVisa path; each one has its own short fix.

Spent criminal records and recent convictions

Cambodia does not run a comprehensive criminal-record check at the eVisa stage. A spent record older than 10 years, fully served, is generally not a barrier for the Tourist eVisa — the application does not ask about it and the system does not check it. A current or recent serious conviction is different. If you have an active matter, a recent custodial sentence, or anything that might surface on an Interpol-shared notice, the safest path is to consult the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Canberra before you apply. We can pause an application on our end while you sort that conversation — better to ask up front than to be detained at Phnom Penh arrivals.

Lost passport during the trip

If your passport is lost or stolen while you are in Cambodia, the path is short but it costs you some time. Step one is the DFAT consulate in Phnom Penh — they issue emergency travel documents on a 3-5 working day timeline. Step two is a fresh Cambodia eVisa. Your existing eVisa is bonded to the lost passport's number, and it cannot be transferred to a new passport. You apply again under the new passport number, pay again, and wait the standard 3 business days. The full combined timeline for a lost-passport recovery in-country is usually 7-10 working days from the moment the passport is reported lost.

Diplomatic and official passports

The eVisa portal is for ordinary Australian passports only. If you hold a diplomatic passport or an official (service) passport, the eVisa system will reject the application — diplomatic and official passports go through a different process via the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Canberra. The embassy issues the appropriate visa class directly, usually as a passport sticker rather than an electronic PDF, with documentation requirements that vary by mission. Allow 2-3 weeks for the embassy route and contact them well before you travel.

The remaining edge cases in brief

Seven smaller edge cases that come up often enough to belong in this guide, but each has a short, clean answer that does not need a full section.

• New Zealand passport holders living in Australia use the same Cambodia Tourist eVisa as Aussies — same $80 USD (~$122 AUD) all-in price, same 3 business days, same documents. The trans-Tasman arrangement only applies between AU and NZ. Cambodia treats both nationalities identically and neither is visa-free.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander travellers use an Australian passport for international travel. The DFAT Indigenous-specific provisions (eligibility, fee waivers, identity documents) do not change Cambodia's visa requirements — the eVisa application and price are the same as for any other Aussie passport holder.
• Pregnancy and the eVisa: there is no restriction at the visa application stage. Cambodian Immigration does not ask about pregnancy and does not block applications on that basis. Some airlines restrict 3rd-trimester boarding — check the airline's pregnancy policy directly, especially for 36+ week travel.
• Travel insurance: not required for the eVisa application itself. Cambodian Immigration does not ask for it and the application does not have a field for it. Strongly recommended for the trip itself, particularly for medical cover, as hospital care in Cambodia is cash-up-front for foreigners.
• Vaccination records: not required for the eVisa application. Yellow fever vaccination may be required if you have been in a yellow-fever country in the last 6 days — extremely rare from Australia, but worth knowing if you transit through parts of South America or sub-Saharan Africa first.
• Same-sex couples: Cambodia recognises foreign marriages for visa purposes. Both partners apply standard eVisas under their own passports, no additional documentation needed for the relationship. The application does not ask about partner status.
• Service animals: not commonly handled at the eVisa stage. Bringing a service animal into Cambodia needs a separate Cambodia Agriculture Department import clearance, with its own paperwork and timelines. We cannot advise on this — refer the question to the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Canberra well before booking.

Pulling it together

Sixteen edge cases, and the answer for every single one is shorter than the question. The Cambodia eVisa is built for the standard Aussie tourist trip, but the surrounding rules — passport validity, MRZ matching, per-passport applications, entry/exit passport consistency — are predictable once you know them. If you are travelling for work or staying longer than 30 days, the Cambodia Business visa for Australians guide picks up where this one leaves off. And if any of the edge cases above match your situation and you would rather have someone walk it with you, our Aussie-timezone team will pause an application while you sort the underlying paperwork — no rush, no second fee.

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 eligibility for quick answers, and use our glossary of Cambodia visa terms to decode any acronym in this guide.