Cambodia eVisa Rejected for MRZ Mismatch — How Australians Fix It Fast
Cambodian Immigration reads the bottom two lines of your passport — the MRZ — exactly. If you typed your name even one letter differently, the file bounces. This is the Aussie-specific fix walkthrough for hyphenated surnames, double-barrelled given names, and apostrophes the printer dropped.
Why did Cambodia reject my eVisa for an MRZ mismatch and how do I fix it?
Cambodian Immigration's system reads the machine-readable zone — the two lines of letters and angle-brackets at the bottom of your Australian passport bio page — as the source of truth for your legal name. If you typed "Anna O'Brien" but the MRZ reads "OBRIEN<<ANNA<MARIE", the auto-checker flags a mismatch and the application bounces. The fix is to retype your given names and surname exactly as the MRZ prints them, including any middle name you skipped, any apostrophe the printer dropped, and any hyphen the field truncated. Through us, the resubmission is free, no second fee on your card, and the corrected file is usually Approved in 3 business days from the moment we send it back through.
کلیدی ٹیک ویز
- The MRZ is the two lines of letters and angle-brackets at the bottom of your passport bio page — Cambodian Immigration matches your typed name against it character-for-character.
- Aussie surnames trip the MRZ most: hyphenated double-barrels (Sullivan-Hayes), apostrophes (O'Brien), and given names abbreviated when the print field ran out of room.
- The fix takes two minutes — retype your name exactly as the MRZ shows it, including any truncation, then resubmit.
- Through us, the resubmission is free — no second $80 USD (~$122 AUD) charge, no fresh application from scratch.
- End-to-end from the bounce email to an Approved in 3 business days PDF is usually 1-2 business days for an MRZ-only fix.
Why MRZ mismatches hit Australian applicants more than most
How to read your own passport MRZ in under a minute
A worked example for a hyphenated Aussie surname
Quick MRZ self-check
Read Line 1 of your MRZ out loud. Whatever letters come after AUS and before << is your surname for the eVisa form. Whatever letters come after the << is your given-name string. Replace every single < with a space when typing. Drop everything after the long run of <<<<.
The three Aussie cases that bounce the most
The Sullivan-Hayes case — hyphenated surname
The Mary-Anne case — double-barrelled given name
The O'Brien case — the apostrophe drift
The exact fix flow — bounce email to approved PDF
- Step 1: open the bounce email from us. Plain English, points at the MRZ line, includes the exact characters we read from your bio-page scan, suggests the spelling to use on the form.
- Step 2: open your passport to the bio page. Read Line 1 of the MRZ yourself. Confirm the spelling we suggested matches what your MRZ actually shows — if there is any difference, that is the spelling to use.
- Step 3: reply to the email with the corrected surname and given-name string. No fresh form, no new payment, no scanned attachments needed — just the text spelling.
- Step 4: we update the application file and resubmit at no extra charge. Cambodian Immigration's 3-business-day clock restarts the moment the corrected file reaches them.
- Step 5: approved PDF lands in your inbox, Delivered as a printable PDF by email. Typical end-to-end timeline from bounce to approved PDF is 1-2 business days for an MRZ-only fix.
اکثر پوچھے گئے سوالات
What does MRZ stand for and where is it on my passport?
MRZ stands for machine-readable zone — the two lines of capital letters, numbers and angle-brackets at the very bottom of your Australian passport's bio page (the photo page). Each line is 44 characters long. The top line holds your name and country; the bottom line holds your passport number, date of birth and expiry. Cambodian Immigration's auto-checker reads the top line and compares it against the name you typed into the eVisa form.
My passport bio page shows my surname with a hyphen, but the MRZ doesn't — which one do I use?
Always use the MRZ version. The eVisa form does not accept hyphens at all, and Cambodian Immigration's auto-checker compares your typed name against the MRZ, not the visible bio page. If the MRZ shows SULLIVAN<HAYES, type SULLIVAN HAYES with a space. If the MRZ shows OBRIEN with no apostrophe, type OBRIEN with no apostrophe. The visible bio page is for human readers; the MRZ is the technical source of truth.
Do I have to pay again if my eVisa was rejected for a name mismatch?
Through us, no. The all-in $80 USD (~$122 AUD) tourist or $90 USD (~$137 AUD) business price includes free resubmission if Cambodian Immigration flags a correction. You reply to our bounce email with the corrected spelling and we resubmit at no extra charge — no second transaction on your card, no fresh application from scratch.
How long does the MRZ fix actually take?
About two minutes of your time — reading your MRZ and typing the corrected spelling into a reply email. Most of the elapsed time is Cambodian Immigration re-processing the file, which restarts the 3-business-day clock from when we resubmit. End-to-end from the original bounce to an approved PDF is typically 1-2 business days for an MRZ-only fix.
I have a middle name on my passport but I skipped it on the form — is that the rejection?
Almost certainly. The MRZ lists every given name you have on your passport, in order, separated by single angle-brackets. If your MRZ reads JAMES<MICHAEL<DAVID and you only typed James David, the auto-checker sees a mismatch on the middle name. The fix is to type every given name in order — JAMES MICHAEL DAVID — with spaces between, exactly as the MRZ shows them.
What if my MRZ itself looks wrong — is that a passport print error?
Rarely, yes. If your MRZ is missing a letter that is clearly present on the visible bio page above it, or the given-name line cuts off mid-word, DFAT will replace the passport free of charge through their print-error process at any passport office. The turnaround is usually 5-10 business days. For everyone else, the MRZ is the correct source of truth and your typed name should match it.
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