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A PRC ordinary passport is not eligible for ETA 601 or eVisitor 651. Default is Visitor visa 600 Tourist stream via ImmiAccount. From 1 July 2026 the offshore base charge is AUD 250. Compare hotels after the visa is granted.
Whether a Chinese ordinary passport should apply for 600 Tourist stream or ETA 601 (as of August 2026)
This is an introduction, not a promise of issuance or landing. Rules change. Who can apply, what it costs, and which documents to attach follow the Department of Home Affairs pages and the screen in ImmiAccount that day. Reopen those before you lodge or fly.
Hold a Chinese ordinary passport and visit Australia for tourism or to see family: the default channel is the Visitor visa (subclass 600) Tourist stream, lodged online in ImmiAccount. The Australian Embassy in China (Page Last Updated 29 July 2026) states that People’s Republic of China (PRC) passport holders are not eligible to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA, subclass 601), and that PRC passport holders are not eligible to apply for an eVisitor (subclass 651). Guides that treat the ETA app as the usual path for a Chinese ordinary passport are not quoting that page.
This page does one job: pick 600 Tourist stream, lodge your own ImmiAccount application, then compare cancellable Sydney or Melbourne hotels and Shanghai/Beijing flights after a grant. Checked 30 August 2026. Same facts: Chinese page.
Pick the channel first
| Who you are and why you go | Apply for | Do not apply for |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese ordinary passport, from China, holiday, recreation, or visiting family and friends | 600 Tourist stream, lodged outside Australia | Do not use the ETA app or eVisitor as the default |
| Organised tour under Approved Destination Status | ADS stream; follow the tour operator’s written instructions | Do not rewrite an independent trip as a fake group to use ADS |
| Short business visitor activity (meetings, not paid work) | Business Visitor stream; procedure is not on this page | Do not use Tourist stream to cover work |
| Visit family who can sponsor you | Sponsored Family stream | Do not pick this stream without an eligible sponsor |
| Frequent Traveller stream | Embassy: biometric collection is currently unavailable in the PRC. If you cannot provide biometrics outside the PRC, you cannot apply for this stream at this time | Do not pay an old AUD 1,015 “10-year visa” blog fee |
Hong Kong and Macao travel documents: ETA eligibility is a Home Affairs list, not this PRC ordinary-passport page. Diplomatic and official passports are out of scope.
The embassy: this visa has five streams. Apply for the one that matches what you will do in Australia. Every person lodges their own application. If you travel with others, ImmiAccount has a Group processing option; it is still one application each. Applicants under 18 must provide evidence that a parent or legal guardian consents to the grant.
You must not work in Australia on this visa. The embassy warns about Visitor visa work scams.
Fee: offshore Tourist stream base AUD 250
The visa application charge is a government fee. Pay what the regulation and the pay screen show on the lodgement day, not an old blog.
The Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026 (F2026L00874) commenced on 1 July 2026. Migration Regulations 1994 Schedule 1 item 1236 sets the first instalment for subclass 600 that is not Frequent Traveller, where the applicant does not hold a Pacific-regional passport:
| Where you are when you lodge | Base application charge (first instalment) |
|---|---|
| Outside Australia | 250 Australian dollars (AUD) |
| In Australia | 630 Australian dollars (AUD) |
| Frequent Traveller stream (not a Pacific-regional passport) | 1,845 Australian dollars (AUD) |
The first instalment is payable when you lodge. A Chinese ordinary passport lodging Tourist stream from China maps to the offshore AUD 250 row. Pacific-regional passports have a lower tier. Do not apply that tier to a Chinese ordinary passport. This page does not list those lower amounts.
Home Affairs also publishes a Visa Pricing Estimator and a current visa pricing table. Before you pay, run the estimator as Visitor 600 / Tourist / passport China / not in Australia. The ImmiAccount pay screen wins. Do not treat AUD 190, 145–1,015, or example figures on the subsequent-temporary-charge explainer as the current price.
The subsequent temporary application charge applies in some onshore repeat cases. A first 600 lodged from outside China usually does not pick that line up. If you are already in Australia applying again, open the estimator; do not copy an extra charge into a first offshore lodgement.
Whether a refused charge is refunded follows Home Affairs refund rules and your decision letter. This page does not invent an appeal fee.
Stay and validity: the grant notice
The Tourist stream (apply outside Australia) page did not yield stay-length text when this page was checked. Do not treat “valid for 5 years so you may stay 5 years” or “each stay is a fixed 12 months” as official prices.
The visa is electronic, linked to the passport. At the border, use the grant notice: subclass, validity, stay, entries, conditions. Validity is the last date you may enter, not how long one stay lasts. Overstay is a conditions and border issue.
Do not buy non-refundable flights or hotels before a grant.
Thin how-to: ImmiAccount
The channel is the department’s online account, not a visa-centre paper form that replaces ImmiAccount. Embassy wording: apply online at ImmiAccount.
- Open ImmiAccount. Create an Individual account with an email you will keep.
- New application → Visitor → Visitor visa (subclass 600) → Tourist stream → apply from outside Australia. From China, do not choose an onshore lodgement.
- Complete passport, purpose, funds, health and character. Answers must match the passport and the files you will attach.
- Attach what the Document checklist in that application asks for. The list is personal. A circulating “12-item national pack” is not a substitute.
- Pay the charge on that screen. Which card, and any surcharge, is whatever the screen offers. Do not treat UnionPay or PayPal as a department rule.
- After submit, watch email and the account. If the department asks for more papers, a health exam, or biometrics, follow that notice. Frequent Traveller biometrics are in the table above. Whether Tourist stream needs an Australian Visa Application Centre visit is the notice in your account, not an old “usually no fingerprints” line.
- If granted, download the grant notice. There is no label in the passport. Carry the passport; officers read the electronic record.
Product hub: Visitor visa (subclass 600). Tourist stream outside Australia: tourist-stream-overseas. Work and Holiday 462 and Transit 771 are not this page. Do not copy 600 fees from the unrevised Chinese Australia hub.
Papers: direction only
Home Affairs pages opened for this check do not set “balance ≥ CNY 60,000” or “AUD 5,000” as a national line. Those lines from the old English page are deleted.
Direction (the checklist in your account wins):
- Identity: passport bio page. Household register or national ID only if the checklist asks. Do not invent “whole hukou book always” or “ID replaces hukou.”
- Genuine visit: purpose matches Tourist stream. Return or onward plans and accommodation if asked. Agent-made fake bookings are false documents.
- Funds: enough for the stay, with a source you can explain. There is no copied regulation that bans “in-and-out” deposits, and no official freeze-the-deposit rule to invent.
- Ties: work, study, or family that show a short visit and a departure. Property is not a published pass condition.
- Under 18: parent or guardian consent, as the embassy requires.
- Non-English files: translate as ImmiAccount and the checklist require. This page does not make NAATI mandatory.
Do not buy non-refundable tickets to “complete” the file. The comparison links below are not the application itinerary.
Processing time
Use Global visa processing times. Select Visitor visa subclass 600, the stream, and an application date. The page is a guide from recently decided cases. It does not guarantee your file.
This page does not write 5–20 working days or an invented approval rate. Health exams, extra documents, and peak periods add time. The clock is complete, payable files, not the day you created the account.
Whether an offshore refusal has merits review is the refusal letter. This page does not print AAT AUD 3,000 or 1,058 as a 600 Tourist offshore fee.
After a grant: cancellable Sydney or Melbourne hotels, then China–Sydney flights
A grant is still not a landing permission. Sample: check-in 17 October 2026, check-out 24 October 2026, 2 adults. Filter free cancellation before you pay. These links are not visa evidence. Do not submit them as fake bookings.
- Sydney hotels (17–24 Oct 2026, 2 adults)
- Melbourne hotels (same dates, 2 adults)
- Shanghai Pudong–Sydney (17 Oct out, 24 Oct back, 2 adults)
- Beijing–Sydney (same dates, 2 adults)
Site search: /en/hotels/, /en/flights/. Family files or a quote from public rates: travel advisor.
Usual traps
Treating ETA 601 as the default for a Chinese ordinary passport. From China for tourism, lodge 600 Tourist stream.
Paying an old AUD 190 or 145–1,015. From 1 July 2026 the offshore base is AUD 250. The pay screen wins.
Writing CNY 60,000 or AUD 5,000 as an official funds line. There is no such line on the pages opened for this check.
Forcing Frequent Traveller from inside the PRC. The embassy: if biometrics cannot be collected, you cannot apply for that stream now.
Using comparison links or book-and-cancel hotels as the application itinerary.
Before you submit
- You are not on ETA / eVisitor. You selected 600 Tourist stream, outside Australia.
- One ImmiAccount application per person. Under-18 consent if needed.
- Fee matches the estimator and pay screen; offshore Tourist maps to AUD 250 in the regulation.
- Attachments match the account checklist. No invented national balance line.
- No non-refundable itinerary yet.
- After a grant, read the stay and conditions on the notice, then book cancellable hotels and flights.
Related
- Chinese: 600 Tourist stream or ETA 601
- Chinese passport visa-free list (mutual agreements)
- New Zealand visa: Visitor Visa or NZeTA
- Japan tourist visa: single-entry, 3-year, or 5-year
Sources (reopen before you lodge)
- Australian Embassy China, Visiting Australia (English, Page Last Updated 29 July 2026): https://china.embassy.gov.au/bjng/DIMA0301.html
- Same page in Chinese: https://china.embassy.gov.au/bjngchinese/dimacn31.html
- Visitor visa (subclass 600): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/visitor-600
- Tourist stream (outside Australia): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/visitor-600/tourist-stream-overseas
- ImmiAccount: https://online.immi.gov.au/
- Visa Pricing Estimator: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/visa-pricing-estimator
- Current visa pricing: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/fees-and-charges/current-visa-pricing
- Global visa processing times: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/global-visa-processing-times
- F2026L00874 (commenced 1 July 2026; item 1236 base charges): https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L00874/latest/text
Compiled from those pages as they stood on 30 August 2026. Not a grant or landing promise. Fees and eligibility change. Use the page you open that day.
