Visa for US citizen to visit Australia

Visa for US citizen to visit Australia
Help me settle a little disagreement I am having with a friend about whether a US citizen needs a visa to visit Australia as a tourist. She says No, I say Yes.

The Australian immigration web site http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tour...sa-options.htm seems to support my claim that one needs to pre-apply for an electronic visa to visit Australia. I used their Visa Wizard and it says I probably need a 600 or a 601 Visa.

Anyone have any other info supporting or refuting my position?


The Australian bureaucracy (especially Immigration) makes the California DMV customer service look like a party. If you don't have every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed, the Australian government bureaucracy will do whatever it can to make your life extremely difficult.

Yes, you need a visa to visit Australia. Yes, you must have your visa before you depart for Australia. Yes, the commercial airline that will transport you to Australia will confirm your visa before you are even allowed to board the plane. And yes, if you somehow make it on the plane without visa verification, you will be stopped at Passport Control in Australia, found you have no visa, be denied entry, and put back on the next plane out of Australia to the location you just left for Australia.

ETA - I am not actually planning to visit Australia anytime soon.