Cambodia Passport Requirements for Americans: Validity and Blank Pages Explained

Blank pages — how many you actually need

Cambodia requires at least one full blank page in your passport for the entry stamp. Not a half page, not the corner of a page already carrying a Thai or Vietnamese stamp — one clean page the officer can ink without crowding another country. For most Americans with a standard 28-page passport book and a few trips behind them, this is a non-issue. For frequent travelers, it is worth ten seconds of checking before you apply.

Open your passport to the visa pages — the ones after the photo page, headed for stamps and visas — and flip through. You are looking for at least one page with no stamps, no stickers, and no visas on either side that would crowd the new stamp. Cambodian Immigration stamps on a clean spread, so a page that is half-used on the back counts as used. If you are down to scattered gaps and edge slivers, you are effectively out of pages.

A quick reality check on the standard US passport: the regular book has 28 pages, of which around 17 are usable visa pages once you set aside the cover, signature, and endorsement pages. The 52-page book — what the State Department now issues by default in many cases, and which you can request at no extra cost — gives you far more runway. If you travel often and you are renewing anyway, opt for the larger book and you will not think about pages again for years. To see how the blank-page rule sits alongside everything else you need, the Cambodia visa requirements for US citizens checklist walks through exactly what counts as a clean page.

Damaged passports, name changes, and the eVisa match

Two passport conditions cause more last-minute scrambles for Americans than expiry or pages combined: physical damage, and a name that no longer matches across documents. Both are fixable, but only if you catch them before you apply, because your eVisa locks to the passport you submit.

Damaged passports

A passport with water damage, a torn or detached cover, a bent or delaminated photo page, or pages coming loose can be refused by either your airline or Cambodian Immigration — even if the dates and pages are fine. Normal wear is accepted; a soft cover and a few dog-eared corners will not stop you. Significant damage will. If the machine-readable zone at the bottom of your photo page is scuffed, smeared, or peeling, that is the part scanners read, and damage there is the most likely to cause a problem. When in doubt, renew — a damaged passport is treated as invalid, not as a lesser version of valid.

Name changes after marriage or court order

The name on your eVisa application must match your current passport exactly — character for character, including middle names and any hyphenation. If you married and changed your name but your passport still shows your maiden name, apply in the name on the passport. If you have already updated your passport, apply in the new name and travel on the new book. Do not mix the two, and do not apply in a name that matches your driver license but not your passport. The eVisa is checked against the passport, not against any other ID.

The unifying rule behind both edge cases: your eVisa is tied to the exact passport number you enter on the application. If you renew after applying — even for the same person, same name — the old eVisa is attached to a passport you are no longer carrying, and that mismatch can stop you at the gate. So renew first, then apply on the new passport number. The same principle drives every item on our Cambodia eVisa documents checklist for Americans, where the passport scan has to match the data you type.

Renewal timing — fitting it around your eVisa

If your passport fails any of the checks above, renew it before you apply for your eVisa — not after, and not in parallel. The order matters because the eVisa attaches to the passport number you submit, and a brand-new passport carries a brand-new number. Renew, receive the new book, then apply on the new details.

In 2026, standard US passport renewal runs about 4 to 6 weeks once the application is received, with expedited service at roughly 2 to 3 weeks for an added fee. Online renewal is available for many eligible adults, which can shave processing time, but the realistic planning number is still weeks, not days. If you have a trip within a couple of months and a passport that needs work, treat the renewal as the long pole and book travel around it.

Once your passport clears all five checks — six months of validity, a clean page, sound condition, the right name, and a number you will keep — the eVisa itself is the easy part. It is approved in 3 business days and delivered as a printable PDF by email, with US-timezone support if anything needs a second look. You can start your Cambodia eVisa application as soon as your passport is squared away, and there is free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction.

Before you apply: the 30-second passport check

Run the full check in half a minute. Open your passport to the photo page and read the expiry date — is it at least six months past your planned arrival in Cambodia? Flip to the visa pages — is there at least one fully clean page? Look at the book itself — any water damage, a loose cover, or a scuffed strip across the bottom of the photo page? Check the name — does it match exactly what you will type on the eVisa? If all four are yes, you are ready to apply on this passport.

If any answer is no, the fix is the same: renew first, then apply on the new book. It is the single piece of advice that prevents the most stressful version of this — a paid eVisa attached to a passport you can no longer use, discovered at the airport. For everything else around eligibility and entry, the eligibility overview and the full visa hub linked above are the next two stops.

Next steps and related reading for Americans: apply for your Cambodia eVisa once your passport clears the check, read the US passport 6-month rule guide for the validity detail, and confirm your full document set with the US citizen visa requirements checklist before you start.