astera

I have some friends who are coming over in November but I don't think they realise that they need visas to enter the country.

Is the Electronic Travel Authority (subclass 601) the best way forward or is there an easier/cheaper/faster way for US citizens?

BritInParis

For US citizens ETAs are the easiest/cheapest/fastest way to visit Australia since they aren't eligible for eVisitor visas.

astera

Thanks - relayed the info to them so that they can get this sorted well ahead of time.

astera

Just curious but do their passports need to be valid at least 6 months from their planned date of entry into Australia, even if they're coming over for just 2 weeks?

Pollyana

Australia doesn't require 6 months, they just have to be valid for the trip. So if they are just flying straight here they will be fine without a 6 months validity.
Be careful if going anywhere else though, other countries often do require 6 months - including Singapore.

astera

Many thanks, will let them know just in case they're stressing about renewals.

Singapore is quite sensible on this - twice now we've flown through with our younger one's passport valid for <6m. The first time it took a few minutes longer as the lady verified it with her superior, whilst the next time we went through as if there was no issue at all. I think the guy just looked at the disembarkation card, saw that were were only staying for 3 nights, and didn't give it any more thought.

I wasn't stressing it as she has an Aussie passport too (which we naturally used to be able to board the flight), so if push came to shove then that one would have been whipped out instead...