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Tourism defaults to Visitor visa 600 Tourist stream, not ETA. Work and Holiday 462 for China is a ballot, not 417. Transit 771 is no longer than 72 hours. 600 fees and ImmiAccount steps are on the short article.
This is an introduction, not a promise of issuance or landing. Rules change. Who can apply, fees, and papers follow the Australian Embassy in China and the Department of Home Affairs pages named at the end. Reopen them before you lodge or fly.
Hold a Chinese ordinary passport and visit Australia for tourism or family: the default channel is the Visitor visa (subclass 600) Tourist stream, lodged in ImmiAccount. The embassy (Page Last Updated 29 July 2026) states that PRC passport holders are not eligible for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA, subclass 601) or an eVisitor (subclass 651). Work and holiday is Work and Holiday (subclass 462). For China that is a pre-application ballot, not subclass 417, and not “submit the moment applications open.” Transit only, no longer than 72 hours, is subclass 771.
This page only picks the product. 600 fees, ImmiAccount steps, and Frequent Traveller biometrics are on the live English 600 Tourist stream short. This hub does not reprint that fee table. Checked 30 August 2026.
Pick the channel first
| Why you go | File | Do not |
|---|---|---|
| From China, holiday, recreation, or visiting family and friends | 600 Tourist stream. Procedure and fees: English short | Do not use the ETA app or eVisitor. Fees live on the short, not on this hub |
| Organised ADS tour | 600 Approved Destination Status; follow the operator’s written instructions | Do not rewrite an independent trip as a fake group |
| Short business visitor activity (meetings, not paid work) | 600 Business Visitor | Do not use Tourist stream to cover work |
| Family in Australia who can sponsor you | 600 Sponsored Family | 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. Detail: the 600 short | Do not invent a validity in years or a “US visa first” bar |
| Young, tertiary education, English skills, work and holiday | 462. For China, a ballot. See below | Do not put a Chinese ordinary passport on 417. Do not write “gone in hours” |
| Principal purpose is transit to another country, or joining a vessel as crew, no longer than 72 hours | 771 | Sightseeing or leaving the transit area: 600, not 771 |
| Medical treatment or consultations | 602; embassy has an entry. Not this page | Do not use 600 Tourist as a substitute |
Hong Kong and Macao travel documents: ETA or which working-holiday subclass is a Home Affairs list. Do not copy this PRC ordinary-passport page onto those books. Diplomatic and official passports are out of scope.
600: default visitor visa; detail on the short
Embassy: the Visitor visa lets you visit for tourism or business visitor activities. You must not work in Australia on this visa. Apply online at ImmiAccount. Every person lodges their own application. Applicants under 18 need parent or guardian consent. Five streams; pick the one that matches what you will do.
Stream names follow the embassy: Tourist, Business Visitor, Sponsored Family, Approved Destination Status, Frequent Traveller. How long you may stay, and how many entries, is the grant notice. This hub does not treat “valid 1 or 3 years, up to 12 months each stay” or “3- or 5-year Frequent Traveller” as official prices. Whether Frequent Traveller can be lodged from inside the PRC is the biometrics sentence on the 600 short.
Fees, papers, the processing-times tool, and post-grant comparison: Whether a Chinese ordinary passport should apply for 600 Tourist stream or ETA 601. Do not use A$145 or “balance ¥50,000” from the old mill as an official line.
462: a ballot for China, not 417
Embassy Visiting Australia page (29 July 2026): only eligible passport holders can apply for 462. Australia has a Work and Holiday arrangement with China which allows up to 5,000 young Chinese people with tertiary education and English skills to experience a working holiday in Australia.
This is not 417. 417 is a different passport range. The old mill’s table “462 = mainland / 417 = Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan” was not taken from a Home Affairs eligibility list opened for this page. A Chinese ordinary passport does not use 417.
Exact age bounds, English-test scores, funds, and how long you may work for one employer: the Home Affairs 462 product page did not yield those numbers when this page was checked, so this page does not invent IELTS 4.5, about AUD 5,000, or “claimed within hours.” Papers: embassy “Checklist — Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) China,” current file.
2026–27 pre-application (ballot), embassy English page (Page last updated 28 May 2026):
- The ballot for the PRC 462 program in 2026–27 starts on 4 June 2026.
- Eligible Chinese passport holders who want a first Work and Holiday visa may submit an online registration from 4 June 2026 to 25 June 2026 inclusive.
- Several random selections throughout the year. If you are selected to apply, the embassy notifies you by email.
- Selections are also published on Home Affairs “New Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa pre-application process.”
This check date is 30 August 2026. That registration window has closed. If you already registered, wait for email and the department’s notices. If you missed it, use the embassy’s next-year page. Do not treat the 2025–26 window (24 June–15 July 2025) as still open. Last year’s page only shows it was already a ballot, not a hours-long scramble.
After a selection notice, follow the embassy links to First Work and Holiday visa and the China checklist. Registration fee, and how many days you have to lodge after an invite, are not on the 2026–27 embassy page. Use the Home Affairs page you open.
771: transit no longer than 72 hours
Embassy: Transit visa (subclass 771) lets you transit through Australia for no longer than 72 hours if the principal purpose of entering is to pass through to another country, or to pass through to join a vessel as a crew member.
The Home Affairs 771 product page did not yield full text when this page was checked. Whether you need the visa, and whether you may remain in the transit area only, is your airline plus the current 771 page. If you plan to enter as a visitor, file 600. Do not stretch 771.
After a grant: cancellable Sydney or Melbourne hotels, then China–Sydney flights
A grant is still not a landing permission. Sample, same as the 600 short: check-in 17 October 2026, check-out 24 October 2026, 2 adults. Filter free cancellation. 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/. Advisor: travel advisor.
Usual traps
Treating ETA as the default for a Chinese ordinary passport. Tourism is 600; detail on the short.
Pasting A$145, or the short’s fee table, onto this hub. 600 numbers live only on the short.
Writing 462 as “gone in hours,” or 417 as the mainland-passport twin.
Using a 6-month passport rule, mandatory NAATI, or a blank-passport refusal rate as official. The embassy pages opened for this check do not say those sentences.
Using comparison links as the application itinerary.
Before you submit
- Tourism or family: 600 Tourist, open the short, do not apply for 601.
- Five streams by purpose. Frequent Traveller: biometrics sentence on the short first.
- 462: a ballot. The 2026–27 registration window has closed; wait for email or the next embassy page.
- 771: principal purpose and 72 hours match.
- You did not put a Chinese ordinary passport on 417.
- No non-refundable itinerary before a grant.
Related
- Whether a Chinese ordinary passport should apply for 600 Tourist stream or ETA 601 (600 procedure and fees)
- Chinese passport visa-free list (mutual agreements)
- New Zealand visa: Visitor Visa or NZeTA
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
- Work and Holiday (subclass 462) 2026–27 (English, Page last updated 28 May 2026): https://china.embassy.gov.au/bjng/WHV2026-27EN.html
- English 600 short (live): https://www.travelarbitrage.net/en/blog/australia-e600-visitor-visa-online-2026/
- Visitor visa (subclass 600): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/visitor-600
- Work and Holiday (subclass 462): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/work-holiday-462
- Transit visa (subclass 771): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/transit-771
- ImmiAccount: https://online.immi.gov.au/
Compiled from those pages as they stood on 30 August 2026. Not a grant or landing promise. Fees, ballot windows, and eligibility change. Use the page you open that day.
