Australian ETA App Official: Is Australia ETA Free? (2026)

No official web form

Australia has no official website form for an ETA 601 application. The only official application channel is the AustralianETA App, published by the Department of Home Affairs.

A webpage that asks you to fill and submit its own “Australia ETA” form is not the government ETA channel. It is a commercial middleman or an imitation. Do not enter passport, face, or card details until you have checked the App developer.

The official AustralianETA App

Download the App only from the store pages linked by Home Affairs. Both listings identify the App as AustralianETA and the developer as Department of Home Affairs:

• AustralianETA on Apple App Store
• AustralianETA on Google Play

The App needs a phone with a camera, NFC, location services, a valid email address, and a payment method. It scans the passport data page, reads the ePassport chip, takes a live face photo, asks declaration questions, and submits the payment.

Is Australia ETA free?

The precise answer has two parts:

• Visa Application Charge: none for ETA 601.
• AustralianETA App application service fee: AUD $20 for each application.

The AUD $20 is not a visa application fee. It is still a mandatory Home Affairs service charge for submitting an ETA through the only official channel. Every family member files a separate application.

Who can use ETA 601

ETA 601 is limited to passports on the Home Affairs eligibility list. The current list includes the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, Brunei, and a number of European jurisdictions.

Australian citizens cannot apply for an ETA. If your passport is not eligible, or you cannot use the App, check another visa through ImmiAccount rather than using a commercial web ETA form.

ETA validity and stay

An ETA normally allows multiple trips during 12 months from grant, or until the linked passport expires if that happens sooner. Each visit can last up to 3 months.

Use the same passport to travel. A replacement or expired passport ends the linked ETA, so a new eligible application is needed.

eVisitor 651: the free route for eligible European passports

Do not pay AUD $20 for ETA 601 before checking eVisitor eligibility. A holder of an eligible European passport can apply online for eVisitor 651 for free through Home Affairs and ImmiAccount.

eVisitor 651 permits multiple entries during 12 months from grant, with stays of up to 3 months per visit. You must be outside Australia when you apply and when Home Affairs decides the application.

Several European passports can qualify for both ETA 601 and eVisitor 651. If yours does, the eVisitor route avoids the AUD $20 App service charge.

When the result arrives

Home Affairs says most ETA applicants are told the result immediately. A case can take longer if an answer is incomplete, information is hard to verify, or more documents are required. Do not book on the assumption that “immediate” is guaranteed.

Keep the written decision, grant number, start date, and conditions. The authorization is electronic and linked to the passport; no label is placed in it.