Quick summary
The Australian ETA service fee is AUD 20. Websites that copy the Department of Home Affairs’ look and ask $80-100 USD for the same document are charging several times the real price, and some of them sit in the paid ad slots above the official results.
App-store wording and ETA rules can change, but the app-only rule and the official fee held in October 2026. What follows covers who is eligible for an ETA, what the official process actually involves, and the warning signs that separate a real application from an expensive imitation.
A payment made on a fake ETA website buys nothing. No application reaches the Department of Home Affairs, no ETA record exists, and the money is gone. Australia lodges ETA applications through one channel only: the official Australian ETA app for iOS and Android. There is no government web portal for the ETA at all.
For U.S. and Canadian passport holders, both on the ETA-eligible list, the gap between the real service and the imitation is wide. The government charges AUD 20; sites that mimic the department’s pages ask roughly $80-100 USD for the same document. In October 2026, the fee and the app-only rule are unchanged.
ETA-eligible passports: the app is the only channel
A website offering to file an ETA is a third party, whatever its design or price. The Department of Home Affairs does not run a browser-based ETA form, so a page that looks official has no government application channel behind it.
U.S., Canadian, and Japanese passport holders are among the nationalities eligible for the ETA.
A desktop browser does not change the route. Searching from a laptop, finding a polished form, and typing details on a large screen can feel more careful than tapping through a phone app. But the site-based path is still not a channel, and the application it promises will never be lodged. The channel matters, not the device.
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What the official ETA process actually involves
The application takes place entirely inside the app. Its App Store and Google Play listing points directly to the Department of Home Affairs, rather than to a third-party service.
The government collects one non-refundable fee. No further ETA charge is payable to anyone, so “additional processing costs” contradict the fee rule rather than offer an upsell.
Australian consular guidance names three warning signs: an application lodged through a website, a promise of “expedited” processing, and any charge above the government’s set figure. They appear alone and in combination. Each is a warning sign in its own right. How professional the page looks does not change that.
Paying the right amount is no defence either. A third-party site can ask exactly the official charge and still not be a channel. Nor does a promise of speed change the process: there is no expedited ETA to buy.
The weak link is finding the service. Typing “Australian ETA” into a search bar returns a mix of official pages, travel agencies, and clones.
Exceptions: passports that use eVisitor or a visa
Not everyone booking a flight to Australia needs this app. Many European and British passport holders travel under the separate eVisitor pathway, a different arrangement from the ETA. ETA-specific warnings should not be handed to them.
Passports outside the ETA-eligible list use a different visa pathway rather than the app.
Eligibility is not fixed. Nationality lists change over time, so the pathway used on a previous trip is worth re-checking rather than assuming.
Install the app before you enter card details
The whole check happens before any payment screen appears.
- Download from the official listing. Get the Australian ETA app through the App Store or Google Play listing that links to the Department of Home Affairs.
- Pay only inside the app. Walk away from any page that adds a charge on top of the government’s fee, and from any offer of faster handling.
- Check the domain. Supporting pages should end in .gov.au; anything else is not an official source, however polished it looks.
- Confirm your pathway. British or European passport holders should use the separate eVisitor route rather than the ETA app.
Two of those steps cost nothing but a moment. The app itself is free to install, and the government fee appears only when the application is actually submitted.
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Questions? Answers.
How much should an Australian ETA cost?
The Department of Home Affairs charges a single non-refundable fee of AUD 20, and no other ETA charge is payable through any route.
Can I apply for an ETA on a website?
No. Official guidance requires the ETA application to go through the Australian ETA app, and a website-based application is itself one of the listed scam warning signs.
Is the official Australian ETA app free?
Downloading it costs nothing. The service fee is triggered only when an application is lodged through the app.
Who is most likely to use this ETA channel?
U.S., Canadian, and Japanese passport holders are among the ETA-eligible groups, while many European and British passport holders use the separate eVisitor pathway instead.
What is the clearest sign of a fake ETA service?
A website-based application, a promise of “expedited” processing, or a request for more than AUD 20. Any one of the three is a scam warning sign.
