8 کمبوڈیا ای ویزا درخواست کی غلطیاں جنہیں امریکی کرتے ہیں (اور ان سے کیسے بچیں)

Mistakes 4-5: the photo that gets auto-flagged

Photo rejection is the single most common reason a US application loses a day. The validator is picky in predictable ways, and almost every flag traces back to one of a short list of avoidable problems. The good news: a phone camera against a plain white wall passes every time once you know what the checker is looking for.

Mistake 4: Smiles, glasses, hats, and busy backgrounds

Use a recent photo against a plain white or off-white background, face fully visible, head centered, neutral expression — no smile, no teeth, no laughing. The auto-flags to avoid are smiles, glasses of any kind including thin frames, hats and head coverings (except for religious reasons), shadows behind the head from indoor lighting, and an off-white or colored wall. Take the glasses off, stand about an arm's length from the wall so there are no shadows, and shoot in daylight from a side window rather than under a ceiling light.

Mistake 5: Selfies, filters, and files that are too small

Save the photo as a JPEG under 2 MB, ideally 600 by 600 pixels or larger. Use the rear camera, not the selfie camera, and have someone else press the shutter — arm-length selfies distort facial proportions and the validator catches that. Do not apply filters or beauty smoothing; the checker rejects heavily edited images. The full specification, with dimensions and a take-it-at-home routine, is in our Cambodia eVisa photo requirements guide for Americans.

Mistake 6: applying on a passport that cannot fly

This one does not get flagged by the validator at all — which is exactly why it catches people out. Your application can sail through and your eVisa can arrive, and you can still be stopped at the US gate before you ever reach Cambodia. The carrier enforces two things the eVisa form does not always check: passport validity and a blank page.

Your US passport must be valid for at least 6 months from your date of entry into Cambodia, and have at least one full blank page for the entry stamp. If your passport expires in November 2026 and you land in July, you are fine. If it expires in October, the airline can deny boarding at the US gate — the 6-month rule is enforced by the carrier, not just at the Cambodian border. Frequent travelers also get caught short on pages: Immigration stamps full clean pages, not the strips at the edges, so flip through and count before you assume you have room.

Check both before you spend a cent on the application. Routine passport renewals through the State Department run several weeks, so if your book is getting old, that is the first thing to sort. Our Cambodia eVisa required documents checklist for US citizens lists the validity and blank-page rules alongside everything else you need on hand, so nothing about your passport surprises you at the gate.

Mistake 7: treating the e-Arrival card as part of the visa

This is the fastest-growing mistake we see, and the one most likely to actually stop you at the airport in 2026. The Cambodia eVisa and the e-Arrival card are two separate, mandatory steps for every air arrival — and travelers who assume the visa covers both get turned back to the queue at the kiosk to fill out the arrival form on the spot.

The eVisa proves you are allowed to enter. The e-Arrival card is the declaration Cambodian Immigration scans when you land — 14 fields covering your flight, your accommodation, and a short customs section. It is a different form filed at a different time: within the 7 days before you arrive, not when you apply for your visa. Filing it weeks ahead does not work, and forgetting it until you are at the counter is the classic 2026 trip-stopper.

Plan for both from the start. The visa application happens now; the e-Arrival is filed in the week before you fly, and it is verified through us for $5 USD. Our guide on what information you need for the Cambodia e-Arrival card walks the 14 fields in order so you can have everything ready when your 7-day window opens.

Mistake 8: applying too late, and the small delivery slips

The eVisa is approved in 3 business days. Weekends and US holidays do not count toward that, so a Friday-afternoon application before a long weekend can land later than you expect. Applying the night before you fly leaves zero room for a correction — and if any of the first seven mistakes happen, that correction is what eats your buffer. Apply at least a week out. The eVisa is valid for 3 months from issue, so there is no penalty for filing early, and every day of buffer is a day a flagged photo or a name fix cannot threaten your flight.

Two smaller slips round out the list, both around getting your approved visa into your hands. First, use an email address you actually check — your eVisa arrives as a PDF attachment, and some corporate inboxes silently strip attachments, which is a common way travelers miss their own approval. A personal Gmail, Outlook, or iCloud account is safest. Second, when the PDF arrives, print two copies on plain paper and save one offline on your phone; US travelers are routinely asked to show the printed eVisa at check-in and again at the Cambodian arrivals hall.

A declined card is the other late-stage snag. It is almost always your bank flagging an unfamiliar online charge rather than anything wrong with the application — a quick approval through your banking app and a retry usually clears it, and the charge is in US dollars so there is no currency math. If your file does get flagged after you pay, resubmission is free and the clock keeps running once you reply. If you want to see what triggers an outright denial rather than a fixable correction, our guide to why Cambodia eVisa applications get rejected lays it out.

Getting it right the first time

Every one of these eight mistakes is a five-second check, not a skill. Copy your name and passport number off the bio page exactly, match the date format, shoot a clean photo against a white wall with your glasses off, confirm your passport is valid 6+ months with a blank page, file the separate e-Arrival card in your 7-day window, and apply at least a week before you fly. Do that and your Tourist eVisa ($80 USD all-in) or Business eVisa ($90 USD all-in) lands as a printable PDF inside 3 business days, with free resubmission and US-timezone support if anything does get flagged.

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 happens now; the e-Arrival is filed within 7 days before you fly. Americans who plan for both at the start avoid the most common trip-stopper at the kiosk. 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, run through the required documents checklist before you upload, and read why applications get rejected so a fixable slip never becomes a denial.