Australia ETA 601 vs E600 Visa (Visitor Visa 600): Which One in 2026?

If you hold a mainland China (PRC) passport, the answer is short: you need the Visitor visa (subclass 600), applied for online in ImmiAccount. The Australian Embassy in China page, last updated 29 July 2026, says PRC passport holders are not eligible for the ETA (subclass 601), and not eligible for the eVisitor (subclass 651) either. If you hold another passport, the ETA may be an option for a short trip, but only if your passport is on the department's ETA-eligible list. Everyone except New Zealand citizens needs a visa or an ETA before flying to Australia.

People often write the 600 as "E600" or "e600 visa". The official name is Visitor visa (subclass 600). This guide compares the two, walks through both applications, and ends with a section that routes you by situation.

Does your passport qualify for the ETA?

The ETA is an electronic visa for citizens of countries the department treats as low risk. Home Affairs' Visitor Visa Program Report to 31 December 2025 describes it as a visa "available to citizens from low risk countries" and says the list of countries is on the department's website. This guide does not reproduce that list. Look up "Eligible ETA countries" on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au and confirm your passport is on it before you apply.

Two other cases that rule out the ETA:

• PRC passport. Not eligible for the ETA or the eVisitor (embassy page updated 29 July 2026). You apply for a 600. The ADS stream, covered below, is one of the 600's streams.
• A criminal conviction in any country. Home Affairs' ETA app guidance says to apply for a Visitor visa (600) instead and provide evidence about the conviction.

The 600 is open to any passport holder.

Australia visa 600 vs 601 at a glance

Sources: the Home Affairs Visitor Visa Program Report to 31 December 2025, the ETA app guidance notes and the embassy page above.

How to apply for the ETA

You apply through the AustralianETA app. It is a free download from the Apple App Store and Google Play; search for "AustralianETA". You can apply yourself, or a travel agent or airline can apply for you. Home Affairs' guidance notes, written for that industry route, describe the steps:

1. Have your passport and email ready. The applicant needs the passport in hand and access to the email account they nominate.
2. Use a phone with NFC. The guidance requires an NFC-capable device for industry users, and the app reads the chip in the passport.
3. Scan the passport's photo page. The app fills in your passport details automatically. Nothing may cover the photo, personal details or the two machine-readable lines at the bottom.
4. Read the passport chip. For passports other than USA passports, hold the phone against the front or back cover and slide it slowly until the app finds the chip. For USA passports, open to the personal data page and place the phone on the opposite page. The chip sits in different places on different countries' passports.
5. Take a live photo. It is used to confirm you are the person in the passport. The guidance asks for a passport-style photo: facing the camera, plain background, good light.
6. Verify your email. A code goes to your nominated email address and you have five minutes to enter it.
7. Answer the ETA questions, including the criminal conviction question. You also give contact details for your stay in Australia.
8. Pay. Payment options, depending on your device, are Google Pay, Apple Pay or a credit card.

The outcome notice and the payment receipt are sent to the email address you gave. Each application covers one person only, and a family member's passport can't be added to yours. If you hold a second passport, the app lets you add it to your own application.

The app will not let you submit if the department's systems show you are in Australia, or that you already have an application being assessed. The ETA is for people applying from outside Australia.

How to apply for the Visitor visa 600

You apply online in ImmiAccount. Every traveller makes an individual application, including children. If you travel with family, colleagues or friends, the embassy recommends choosing "Group processing" in ImmiAccount so the applications are linked. A group can pay for all its applications in one payment. Home Affairs' group lodgement FAQ says each application is still decided on its own merits, so a group is not a guarantee of the same result for everyone.

Applicants under 18 must provide evidence that their parents or legal guardians consent to the trip.

The 600 has five streams. Pick the one that matches what you will do in Australia.

On the Frequent Traveller stream, the embassy page (updated 29 July 2026) says biometric collection is currently unavailable in the PRC because of COVID-19, and that if you can't provide biometrics outside the PRC you can't apply for this stream at this time.

What you can and can't do

Both visas are for short visits. The Home Affairs program report lists these visitor activities:

• Tourism: a holiday or recreation, a cruise, visiting family and friends.
• Business: general business or employment enquiries; investigating, negotiating, entering into or reviewing a business contract; official government visit activities; taking part in a conference, trade fair or seminar without being paid by the organisers.

You can't work. The report defines work as an activity in Australia a person would normally be paid for, and says work is not permitted on any Visitor visa. Someone found working in breach of the conditions could face visa cancellation and an exclusion period. The embassy also warns about Visitor visa work scams.

Study or training up to 3 months may be permitted. If your main reason for going is to study for longer than 3 months, Home Affairs says a Student visa may be more appropriate. And if you are waiting on a Student visa outcome, don't travel on a Visitor visa to start your studies.

You can't extend a Visitor visa, but you can apply for another visa before the current one ends. The Tourist stream of the 600 is the only visitor stream open to applicants already in Australia.

What it costs

The pages behind this guide give no dollar amounts, so none are quoted here. What they do say:

• ETA: an Australian ETA App service fee applies to each individual application. Agents or airlines can pay for several applications in one transaction.
• Visitor visa 600: the charge is set in the department's current visa pricing table, and there is a visa pricing estimator on the fees page.
• Payment surcharge: a surcharge may apply when you pay visa application charges by credit card or PayPal. The department's fees and charges page links to the details.

Read the amount on the ETA app's payment screen, or in the pricing table for the 600, on the day you apply. Amounts change, and an old blog figure is not a reliable guide.

How long it takes, and when to apply

The sources give no processing time for the ETA beyond the fact that the outcome is sent by email.

For the 600, Home Affairs publishes global visitor visa processing times on its website and updates them monthly. The program report says the times move with application volumes, seasonal peaks, complex cases and incomplete applications. The same report gives one historical figure by nationality: of the Tourist Visitor (600, 676) visas granted to Chinese citizens (excluding the SARs) between 1 October and 31 December 2025, 75 per cent were processed within 13 calendar days. That is a past statistic, not a promise for your application. Use the processing-times page for the current figure, and apply well ahead of your flight.

In a notice dated 5 January 2024 ahead of Spring Festival, the embassy told travellers to apply early and said actual processing times vary by individual circumstances. That notice also describes Fast Track, a premium service giving priority processing to certain 600 applicants for an additional fee, selected in ImmiAccount when you lodge. The notice gives no amount and is more than two years old, so treat it as evidence the option exists, not as a current offer. The embassy also asks applicants not to contact it for status updates on non-urgent applications, because that diverts resources from processing.

Health, insurance and other requirements

All visa applicants must meet the health requirement, and you may be asked to take health examinations. The embassy's Visa Requirements page (last updated 9 February 2022) lists China as a higher-risk country for tuberculosis. If you apply from China, you are likely to be asked for health examinations if you:

• plan to stay in Australia for six months or more;
• are aged 75 or older and apply for a Visitor visa (600);
• are likely to enter a health care or hospital environment;
• are pregnant and intend to give birth in Australia;
• intend to work as, or study to be, a doctor, dentist, nurse or paramedic;
• are likely to work or train at an Australian childcare centre;
• have any significant medical conditions.

Getting a health clearance does not guarantee the visa. Examinations abroad go through a panel physician appointed by the Australian Government.

You are responsible for your own health costs in Australia, and Chinese citizens are not covered by Medicare. Visitors aged 75 or older applying for a 600 must show adequate means to meet health costs in Australia, and the visa will carry condition 8501, which requires adequate health insurance arrangements. The embassy suggests uploading a scan of your insurance policy when you lodge.

Everyone is assessed against the character requirement. You may be asked for police or military certificates. Answer every question truthfully: the embassy page warns that false or misleading information can lead to refusal and a bar of up to ten years.

Other options: eVisitor, ADS and transit

• eVisitor (651). For eligible European passport holders: tourism or business, up to 3 months per visit, as often as you wish in a 12-month period, online only. The sources don't list which European countries qualify. PRC passport holders are not eligible.
• ADS stream (600). For PRC passport holders visiting on a tour organised by an approved travel agent. The embassy's Travelling to Australia page says the government has announced the scheme's recommencement. The application goes through the agent, not through you directly.
• Transit visa (771). Lets you transit through Australia for no longer than 72 hours, if your main purpose is passing through to another country or joining a vessel as crew.

Which should you choose

If two rows fit you, take the one for your passport first: it decides whether the ETA is even open to you.

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