What is an emergency passport?
Emergency passports have limited validity and are designed to facilitate urgent travel to Australia. Emergency passports have only six visa pages and the validity will be limited to meet your immediate travel needs (usually seven months validity). It does not contain a chip and cannot be used to enter or transit some countries.
Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure an emergency passport is suitable for your travel plans. Some countries do not accept entry on an emergency passport. If you are travelling to a country that requires a visa, you should check with the authorities of that country whether a visa can be issued in an emergency passport and if there is a minimum validity required for the passport.
Australia will accept an emergency passport as a valid travel document, but we cannot tell you which other countries will or won't accept an emergency passport.
Eligibility
The Australian Embassy can issue emergency passports to Australians needing to travel urgently for compelling or compassionate reasons and there is not enough time to receive an ordinary passport.
This includes Australians who have held an Australian passport before as well as those who are applying for an emergency passport as their first Australian passport.
Please note that forgetting to renew your passport before its expiry or forgetting to check if you have six months validity for travel to some countries are not typically grounds for an emergency passport to be issued.
How to apply
Emergency passport applications must be submitted in-person at the Embassy. Fees apply. A current list of fees is available on our website here. After an application is submitted, an emergency passport can be issued within two business days.
In order to apply for an emergency passport, you will need to provide:
- Evidence of your urgent need to travel (such as a flight booking)
- Identity documents showing your photo, signature, and current residential address (if available)
- 2 passport photos which meet Australian passport photo guidelines
- A guarantor who can confirm your identity (if available)
- If your previous passport was lost or stolen, a police report outlining the circumstances of the loss or theft
If you cannot provide any of the above, please let us know.
To lodge your application, you can book an appointment, contact us or attend the Embassy during opening hours from 8:30am to 12:00pm and 1:30pm to 3:00pm weekdays.
Exit visas
Please note if you obtain a new emergency passport after entering Cambodia, you will require an exit visa to enable you to depart. You can apply for an exit visa at the Visa Office which is located opposite the former Phnom Penh International Airport. The fee is USD30 and the processing time is typically three business days.