Your Cambodia eVisa moves through a short set of stages, and you can see exactly where it sits at any point. Here is how US travelers check the status, what each stage means, and what to do when the PDF is not in your inbox yet.
Use the reference number from your confirmation email to look up your application status. Your Cambodia eVisa moves through a few stages — submitted, in review, then approved — and is delivered as a printable PDF by email, normally within 3 business days. A status that still reads pending in the first day or two is normal; the clock counts business days only, so weekends and US holidays do not count. If your approved PDF has not arrived, check your spam folder, search your inbox for the sender, and confirm the email address you applied with. When you apply through us, US-timezone support can look up your file directly and tell you exactly where it sits.
You hit submit, the payment cleared, and now you are refreshing your inbox wondering whether anything is actually happening. That is the most common feeling US travelers have in the first day after applying — and the good news is that your Cambodia eVisa is not a black box. It moves through a short, predictable set of stages, and you can see exactly where it sits at any point with the reference number you were given when you applied.
This guide covers all of it: where to find your reference number, what each status stage actually means, how long each one normally takes, and the specific things to do when the approved PDF is not in your inbox yet. None of it is complicated, and most of the worry traces back to one thing — not realizing the 3-business-day clock counts business days only, so a Friday-evening application genuinely sits quiet over the weekend without anything being wrong.
If you have not actually submitted yet and you are reading ahead, our step-by-step Cambodia eVisa guide for Americans walks every field in order so the application goes in clean the first time. And if you are ready right now, you can apply now and keep this tracking guide open in another tab for the days that follow.
Open the confirmation email sent the moment your application and payment went through — it carries the reference number that keys every status check.
Use that reference number to read where your file sits — submitted, in review, or approved — with a timestamp for the most recent update.
Submitted and in review need nothing from you; the 3-business-day clock counts working days only, so weekends and US holidays do not move it.
If Immigration flags a photo or passport scan, the email lists exactly what to re-upload — resubmission is free and the clock keeps running once you reply.
Once the status shows approved, your eVisa lands as a printable PDF by email; if it is missing, check spam and confirm the email address on file.
Download the PDF, print two copies on plain paper, and save one offline on your phone before you travel.
Checking your status comes down to one thing you already have: the confirmation email you received the moment your application and payment went through. That email holds your reference number, and the reference number is the key to every status check from here. Save it, star it, do not delete it — it is the single most useful piece of paper in this whole process.
Open the confirmation email that arrived right after you paid. It will show your application reference along with the name and passport number you applied with. If you cannot see it in your main inbox, search for the sender or for the word "Cambodia" in your mail app, and check your spam and promotions folders — automated confirmation emails are filtered into those folders more often than people expect. Once you have the reference number in front of you, the rest is quick.
Use your reference number to look up where your file sits. You will see one of a small set of states — submitted, in review, approved — and a timestamp for the most recent update. That is all the system is telling you: which stage your application is in right now. There is nothing to fill out and nothing to pay; you are simply reading the current position of a file that is already moving.
When you apply through us, you do not have to interpret any of this alone. US-timezone support can pull up your file by reference number, confirm the real status, and tell you whether anything needs your attention or whether it is simply working through the normal queue. If you want to know the typical day-by-day delivery rhythm before you even check, our guide on when your Cambodia eVisa arrives by email lays out the timeline.
Most applications go straight through with nothing required from you. Occasionally Cambodian Immigration flags a small correction — a photo that needs reshooting against a cleaner background, or a passport scan with glare. If that happens, you get an email telling you exactly what to re-upload. Replying quickly is the whole game here: the faster you fix it, the faster the file clears, and there is no extra charge to do so.
The status words sound bureaucratic, but each one maps to a plain-English moment in the process. Knowing which is which tells you whether to do nothing and wait, or whether something is actually waiting on you. Here is what you are looking at.
The stage that causes the most needless worry is "in review" sitting unchanged for a day or two. That is the system working exactly as designed, not stalling. Approval normally lands within 3 business days of a clean submission, and a file can sit in review for most of that window and still be perfectly on track.
If your status has read pending or in review for longer than feels comfortable, that does not automatically mean a problem — there are a handful of ordinary reasons for it. Our guide on how long a Cambodia eVisa stays pending walks through what is normal and what is not, so you can tell the difference without guessing.
Your Cambodia eVisa is approved in 3 business days from a clean submission. The word that matters in that sentence is "business." The clock counts working days only, so weekends and US public holidays do not move it forward. This single fact explains the large majority of "why is my status still pending" questions we get from US travelers.
Picture a Friday-evening application. Friday after business hours may not count as a full processing day, Saturday and Sunday do not count at all, and the clock effectively picks up again Monday. So a file submitted Friday night can sit quiet across the whole weekend and still approve right on schedule mid-week. Nothing is wrong; the calendar is simply doing what it always does. The same applies around US holidays and Cambodian public holidays, when processing days are fewer than the calendar suggests.
Because of that, the smartest move is timing rather than tracking: apply at least a week before you fly so the 3-business-day window has room even if a weekend or holiday lands in the middle of it. The eVisa is valid for 3 months from issue, so there is no penalty for applying early. If a holiday period overlaps your trip, our guide on Cambodia eVisa processing over weekends and holidays shows exactly which days do and do not count.
If you have genuinely passed 3 business days — counting only working days, not the calendar — with no approval and no correction email, that is the point to look closer. It usually traces to a fixable cause: a flagged photo whose correction email landed in spam, an email address that bounced the notification, or a holiday you did not realize fell inside the window. None of those are dead ends, and none of them mean you lose your fee.
For the full list of what slows a file beyond the normal window and how each one is resolved, our guide on a Cambodia eVisa taking longer than 3 days breaks down every common cause. Most are cleared with a single reply or a quick check of your spam folder.
This is the single most common status question after "is it pending normal?" — the tracker shows approved, but the PDF is nowhere in your inbox. Almost every time, the eVisa was sent and your email simply did not surface it. Work through this short list in order and you will usually find it inside two minutes.
If you have been through that list and still have nothing, this is exactly what US-timezone support is for. With your reference number we can confirm the eVisa was issued, see which address it went to, and re-send the PDF to an address you can actually receive it at. You do not lose the visa because an email bounced — the issued document is on file regardless. Our guide on the normal email delivery timing covers when the PDF should land so you know when to start looking.
Seeing "approved" is the finish line for the visa itself, but there are two quick things to do the moment the PDF lands so you are not scrambling later. First, download the PDF and print two copies on plain paper, then save one copy offline on your phone. US travelers are routinely asked to show the printed eVisa at check-in in the States and again at the Cambodian arrivals hall, and a printed page never depends on airport Wi-Fi or a dead battery.
Second, check that every detail on the PDF matches your passport — name, passport number, dates — exactly as you expected. If anything is off, it is far easier to address before you travel than at the counter. Our guide on whether you have to print the Cambodia eVisa covers what to bring to the airport and why a phone screen alone is a risk worth avoiding.
The other thing approval does not cover is your arrival declaration. The eVisa proves you are allowed to enter Cambodia; it is not the same as the e-Arrival card, which is a separate, mandatory step for every air arrival in 2026. Plenty of US travelers see "approved," assume they are fully done, and get sent back to the queue at the kiosk to fill out the arrival form on the spot. Knowing the two are separate is what keeps that from happening to you.
Keep the confirmation email, because the reference number in it is how you check your status at any point. Your file moves from submitted to in review to approved, and lands as a printable PDF by email — normally inside 3 business days, counting working days only, so weekends and US holidays do not move the clock. A pending status in the first day or two is normal. If the approved PDF is not in your inbox, the cause is almost always spam filtering or a corporate inbox stripping the attachment, and US-timezone support can re-send it to an address you can receive. Your Tourist eVisa ($80 USD all-in) or Business eVisa ($90 USD all-in) is on file the moment it is issued, with free resubmission if Immigration ever flags a correction.
One last reminder: the visa is one form and the e-Arrival card is a different form, and both are mandatory for every air arrival in 2026. The visa application is what you are tracking here; the e-Arrival is filed within 7 days before you fly. The Cambodia visa guide for United States citizens stays the single canonical reference for everything around the trip.
Next steps and related reading for Americans: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, follow the step-by-step application guide field by field, read how long an eVisa stays pending so a normal wait does not worry you, and check when your eVisa arrives by email so you know exactly when to start looking.
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The Cambodia e-Arrival Card is a separate step from your eVisa, and a small one — $5 USD verified through us, 14 fields, filed within 7 days before you fly. Here is exactly what that fee covers, why it is not bundled into your visa price, and the timing that keeps you moving at the gate.
The Cambodia e-Arrival Card is 14 fields across three sections, filed within 7 days before you land. Here is exactly what each field wants, in the order the form asks for it, plus the date-format slip that flags US travelers at the kiosk.
The Cambodia e-Arrival Card asks for 14 pieces of information across three sections — your identity, your flight and stay, and a short customs declaration. Here is exactly what each field wants and the four things to have in front of you before you start.
