What is the 2026 Cambodia overstay fine for Australians?
$10 USD (~$15.20 AUD) per day, flat, for overstays of 1 to 30 days. Paid in USD cash at the departure desk at KTI Phnom Penh, SAI Siem Reap, or KOS Sihanoukville before boarding. The rate is the same regardless of whether you arrived on a Tourist eVisa or a Business eVisa. A 7-day overstay is $70 USD (~$107 AUD), a 14-day overstay is $140 USD (~$213 AUD), a 21-day overstay is $210 USD (~$320 AUD). The day-30 cap on the airport-only handle is $300 USD (~$457 AUD).
Can I pay the overstay fine in AUD or with a card?
No. The overstay fine is paid in USD cash, period. There is no card terminal at the overstay desk, no QR code payment, no fallback to KHR (Cambodian riel) for the fine itself. Bring crisp clean USD notes — older or torn bills are sometimes refused. The cleanest setup is the expected total in a small envelope plus a $50–100 USD (~$76–152 AUD) buffer in case the day count includes the day of departure. ATMs inside KTI, SAI, and KOS dispense USD on most cards, but the cash should be in hand before you reach the immigration desk.
How long does the airport overstay conversation actually take?
Under 10 minutes for most short overstays. You join the departure immigration queue with everyone else, the officer notices the date gap, hands you to the overstay desk a few metres away, you hand over USD cash, the staff member counts it twice, prints a receipt, stamps your passport, and you walk through to airside. The desk staff process dozens of short overstays a day — it is routine, not punitive. Calm, cash ready, brief is the whole handle.
What happens if I overstay by more than 30 days?
The framework changes substantially. The flat $10 USD (~$15.20 AUD) per day fine no longer resolves the situation at the departure desk on its own. Formal detention becomes possible, embassy involvement becomes likely, and the resolution typically takes multiple business days rather than a same-day flight. The Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh recommends consular contact at the first sign of a long-overstay situation. For long overstays, contact a registered Cambodian immigration lawyer through the Embassy referral list rather than trying to handle it at the airport on your own.
Will an overstay stop me getting a Cambodia visa next time?
Usually no — a single short overstay paid cleanly at the desk is treated as a routine record in the Cambodian Immigration database and triggers a manual review on your next eVisa application, typically a one-business-day delay on top of the standard 3-business-day processing. Refusal is uncommon for a single short overstay. Repeat overstays across multiple trips, or any beyond-30-day event, draw heavier review and longer processing times. Through us, flagged applications still come back with full transparency on timeline and Aussie-timezone support across the application window.
Should I tell the eVisa application about my prior overstay?
Apply for the fresh eVisa as normal through our standard application flow — the Cambodian Immigration system surfaces prior overstay history automatically against your passport number, so there is no separate declaration form. If the review officer flags any follow-up question, the Aussie-timezone support team will walk you through it during the application window. The honest framing on prior overstays: declare them straight if asked, do not over-explain, and budget an extra business day on top of the standard 3.
How do I avoid the overstay desk entirely on my next trip?
Two clean paths. First, if your trip is genuinely 30 days or less, the Tourist eVisa at $80 USD (~$122 AUD) is the right class and you simply leave on or before day 30. Second, if there is any real chance the trip will run longer, book the Business eVisa at $90 USD (~$137 AUD) upfront and lodge an in-country extension through a Phnom Penh agent inside your first two weeks — $50 USD (~$76 AUD) for a 1-month extension, $130–170 USD (~$198–259 AUD) for 3 months, $180–240 USD (~$274–366 AUD) for 6 months, or $300–400 USD (~$457–609 AUD) for 12 months.
What if I cannot afford the overstay fine at the airport?
The honest answer is the situation does not unwind cleanly at the desk if the fine cannot be paid. Cambodian Immigration will not allow boarding without the overstay fine settled in full, and short overstays cannot be paid retrospectively from Australia after departure is refused. The Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh can sometimes help in genuine hardship cases — emergency consular contact is on Smartraveller. The cleanest preventive move is to ensure USD cash for the fine is in hand before you reach the airport, with a reasonable buffer.
