Various types of visas can be applied for when travelling to Australia. Are you travelling for a holiday, business trip, study or a visit to friends or family? And will your stay last no longer than three months? If so, you can opt for an eVisitor visa or for an ETA Australia.

What is an ETA Australia (subclass 601)?

The abbreviation ETA stands for Electronic Travel Authority. An ETA Australia is therefore an electronic travel authorisation, also called an e-visa, comparable to the ESTA USA and the eTA Canada. The ETA is an authorisation and not a document. This means that no paper document or stamp is placed in a passport. Instead, once approved, the applicant receives a digital confirmation stating that the trip may take place. Once the ETA Australia has been approved, the traveller can check in for a flight or cruise.

The application procedure for the ETA depends on the nationality of the traveller. The same applies to the costs of applying for an ETA. However, the application procedure is always online.

What is an eVisitor Australia (subclass 651)?

The eVisitor visa Australia is very similar to the ETA. The eVisitor visa is also an electronic travel authorisation, or an e-visa. This means that the application procedure also takes place online and that the eVisitor is not affixed to the passport. The requirements and validity period are also exactly the same as those of the ETA.

Both e-visas can be used as a tourist visa or business visa. The only differences between an eVisitor and an ETA Australia are the nationalities accepted, the different application procedures and the differences in application fees.

Australia on the mapA map of Australia

Differences between the ETA Australia and the eVisitor visa

Below are the three differences between these two visas for Australia.

Difference in accepted nationalities

The ETA Australia is also available to travellers with some nationalities that do not allow for an eVisitor application. Because of the lower costs and easier application procedure of the eVisitor visa, it is therefore important to first check whether you are eligible for an eVisitor visa. Check whether your nationality appears in the table below.

Nationalities with which you can apply for an eVisitor visa Australia
Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus
Denmark Germany Estonia
Finland France Greece
Hungary Ireland Iceland
Italiy Croatia Latvia
Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg
Malta Monaco Netherlands
Norway Austria Poland
Portugal San Marino Romania
Slovenia Slovakia Spain
Czech Republic Vatican City United Kingdom*
Sweden Switserland
* Travellers with the nationality of the United Kingdom can only apply for an eVisitor visa if they are UK citizens. Applications are not possible if your passport states British National Overseas, British Dependent Territories Citizen, British Overseas Citizen, British Protected Person or British Subject.

Do you have one of the above nationalities?

Then you can apply for your eVisitor visa Australia right away:
Apply for the eVisitor visa Australia

Is your nationality not listed in the table above?

In that case you cannot apply for an eVisitor visa. However, you may be able to apply for an ETA Australia. Check whether your nationality is listed in the following table.

With these nationalities you can apply for an ETA, but you cannot apply for an eVisitor
Andorra Brunei Canada
Hong Kong Japan Malaysia
Singapore Taiwan* United Kingdom Overseas**
United States of America South Korea
* Excluding travellers with passports of office or diplomatic passports.
** Applying for an ETA Australia is also possible for UK citizens if their passport states British National Overseas or British Overseas Citizen.

Difference in application procedure

Apart from the above-mentioned differences in accepted nationalities, the application procedures of an ETA and eVisitor are different as well. An eVisitor visa can easily be applied for with this application form. After filling in the form, the costs can be paid and the required documents can be submitted digitally. The application will then be processed and once approved, you will receive a confirmation by email. From that moment on, you can travel to Australia.

Are you unable to apply for an eVisitor visa because of your nationality, but you are able to apply for an ETA for Australia? Then you can apply for your ETA Australia using your smartphone. To do so, download the app from Australia’s immigration department. Can you apply for both an ETA and an eVisitor visa because of your nationality? If so, it is recommended that you use the eVisitor visa. Do you still want to apply for an ETA, for example because something went wrong with the eVisitor visa application? Then you can also arrange it through the immigration service’s app

Difference in cost

The cost of applying for an eVisitor visa Australia using the online application procedure on e-Visa.co.uk is £24.95 per person. The cost of an ETA Australia is higher than that of the eVisitor e-visa.

e-Visa.co.uk is a commercial and professional visa agency, and supports travellers in obtaining, among others, the Australia visa. e-Visa.co.uk acts as an intermediary and is in no way part of any government. You can also apply for a visa directly with the immigration service (0 AUD per visa, via immi.homeaffairs.gov.au). However, not with our level of support. If you submit your application via e-Visa.co.uk, our support centre is available to you 24/7. In addition, we manually check your application and all the documents you provide before submitting it to the immigration authorities on your behalf. If we suspect any errors or omissions while doing so, we will personally contact you to ensure that your application can still be processed quickly and correctly. To use our services, you pay us 0 AUD in consular fees, which we pay to the immigration service on your behalf, as well as £24.95 in service fees as compensation for our services, including VAT. Our services have saved many travellers from major problems during their trip. Should an application be rejected despite our support and verification, we will refund the full purchase price (unless an application for a previous Australia visa was rejected for the same traveller). Read more about our services here.