Do US Passport Holders Have to Pay to Enter Australia?
 

That's the premise of this thread, but Timatic doesn't say there is a fee.

So you think "user name" involved a lot of thought?

No it isn't. Neither UK nor US citizens need to pay a fee to enter Australia. However both need to get an e-visa before their flight departs. Some agents/airlines/websites will charge for this, but there are other ways to get it for free (including through an FTer).

not all passports shows POB.

if you are born in the us as the child of diplomats or officials, you are not a us citizen.

al

An ETA is issued free by the Australian government, but various facilities can and sometimes do charge for the service.

The Australian government website charges for it, but this is to maintain the website. Various airlines and all travel agencies can supply it for free, some charge for it (but waive the charge for FF elites or those flying in premium cabins, in the case of airlines, or for corporate clients, in the case of travel agents).

Please see the stickie at the top of the Australia and the South Pacific forum for a way to avoid the processing fee.

Dave

Really? Can you give us an example of a passport that does not show place of birth?

yup, the passport of switzerland for example. :D

al

canada as well, although there is it optional.

"Place of birth
Your place of birth must be provided on the application form. If you do not wish the place of birth to appear in the passport, a written request must accompany the application. You should contact the consulate or embassy of every country you plan to visit to ensure that you will be admitted if the passport does not include your place of birth."

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/section1.aspx?lang=eng

there must be others.

al

Interesting, although the Swiss passport apparently has an entry for "place of origin", which is different than place of birth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_passport#cite_note-2

It always struck me as strange that the US, for example, would essentially rat out its own citizens by placing the place of birth in the passport. Many, many people have gotten in trouble as a result of this information( e.g., drafted, not allowed to leave the country of birth, etc.) It seems to me if I'm a US citizen, it's no one's business where I was born.

1. the reason for the swiss specificity is that in switzerland one is really a citizen of one's place of origin, which is a commune. by extension one is a citizen of the canton (which used to issue passports until ww1 i believe) and by further extension is one a citizen of the enormously vast whole switzerland.
when passports became formalized/standardized in the late 1910s, early 1920s, i forget the dates of the passport conventions, there was a rule to mention the place of origin of a bearer. most took is as the place of birth, not so the swiss.
note that the result of this is that if you become a naturalised swiss citizen your place of origin will be the place (commune) that naturalised you.

2. the reason why you can refuse to have it on the canadian passport is because canada is obsessed about not discriminating and is worried that their citizens might be in certain cases discriminated against by nasty agencies (read cbp) because of dodgy places of birth.
this is against the pre-cited conventions but so is every passport that does not contain a french translation. ;)

al