What is Tibet Travel Permit?
First, you need to know that the Tibet Travel Permit is not a Visa. It is a special permit required by all international Visitors for visiting Tibet.
The Tibet Tourism Bureau issues this Permit in Lhasa. Hence, only a travel agency in Lhasa, Tibet, can help you apply it on your behalf. Therefore you will have to make all the tour arrangement with them in advance.
This travel document consists of two pages;
- The first page is where you will find your destinations, date and stamps.
- The second page includes a list of your group members’ information, including name, date of birth, passport number, etc.
No, International travelers can visit Tibet without this permit.
Who needs the Tibet Travel Permit?
- All foreign national traveling to Tibet needs this permit.
- People from the Special Administrated region of Hong Kong and Macau doesn’t require this permit. They can visit Tibet with their Home return permit or Chinese SAR passport.
- A resident from Taiwan needs to contact travel agencies with special licences to host them in Tibet.
- For Indian Citizen to visit Tibet for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra tour, they must book through Yatra organizer in Nepal.
- If an Indian passport holder visiting other parts of Tibet, We can help make their Tibet travel permit.
This permit will not be issue to Diplomat, Journalism and others working for media. For them, they will have to contact the Chinese Embassy in their home country for special permits.
The Process of Tibet Travel Permit
First, Tibet Travel Regulation requires all international visitors to hire a local travel agency to make arrangements like tour guides and private vehicles.
Once when the booking is made, you will have to send us ( Travel agency in Tibet) a scanned copy of your passport and Chinese Visa. We will put up the application for the permit on your behalf.
It usually takes about 20 days to process the permit. Additionally, we need some extra days to ship your permit to your hotel in other cities in China. Please refer to the how-to get permit section below.
Chinese Visa for Tibet travel permit
Visa is usually tricky when it comes to traveling to Tibet. All travelers coming to Tibet from other parts of China needs to get a Chinese Visa to apply for a Tibet travel permit.
Without it, We cannot apply for your Tibet Travel Permit. Yet, there are many instances where the Chinese Embassy will ask you to submit the permit to get the Visa.
To avoid such from happening, many travelers would not write Tibet as they travel destinations in China. Submit the flight and hotel booking details of the other regions in China.
Visa Invitation from Tibet Tourism Bureau
But sometimes, it is unavoidable not to mention Tibet in the Visa applications. In such a case, you can ask your travel agency to send a visa invitation for you to apply for the Visa with.
For the Visa Invitation. We will have to initial your Tibet travel permit without the Visa. We can only send an official visa invitation from the Tibet tourism bureau in your permit’s mid-process.
With such an Invitation, you will most like to get the Chinese Group Visa, and it is addressed to the Chinese Embassy in your country. You can only apply to the Chinese Embassy in your country.
Chinese Group Visa
Unlike a regular Visa on your passport, the Chinese group visa is on a piece of A4 paper. It contains your group’s information table with stamps.
You will get this Visa if you apply for a Chinese Visa with a Visa invitation from the Tibet tourism bureau.
When you get the Visa, you will get two similar pages. They will keep each one-China custom check as you enter and leave China. Please do not leave it anywhere.
There were many cases when people leave it in their home, hotel or at their home airport. If you do not have both copies at China’s arrival, you will be deported to where you came from.
Here are some limitations to this type of Visa;
- There is no possibility of changing anything on it and extending it.
- All the group members list on it should enter and leave china together at the same port.
Chinese Visa for Those coming to Tibet from Nepal
It is obligatory for all travelers who visit Tibet from Nepal to get a Chinese Group Visa from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. There is no other way to get to Tibet from Nepal with a regular Visa.
As mention above, suppose you are coming to Tibet from Nepal. You will have to send us a copy of your passport, and we will make the permit without your Visa.
We will send you a visa invitation, but you will have to use a service from an Authorize Visa agent in Kathmandu for it. The Embassy will not entertain the individual applicant.
The Visa process will take three business days, and you can only enter Tibet on the fourth day.
Duration of the Tibet Travel Permits process
The process of the Tibet Travel permit could take between 2-3 weeks. It can be done at fastest at one week time if you are only visiting Lhasa City.
The process is progressively complicated and time-consuming if you are visiting more places in Tibet. When applying for your permit, we will have to take the application to the different government offices.
We will also need to make additional permits for some regions base on your tour itinerary. All the Journey to Mt Kailash need 20+ day to get the permit, which could be up to 20+ business days.
Additionally, we will need 2 to 4 days to send your travel permit to your hotel in Other cities in China.
Checkpoints for Tibet Travel Permit
International visitors are check for Tibet Travel Permit at the following point:
- At the Train stations and airport, when leaving for Lhasa city.
- For overland tours, it will be check at the entrance to Tibet Autonomous Region.
- It will be check and registered in Tibet’s accommodations; hotel, guest house and tent guest house at Everest.
- It is checked at all the major attractions and checkpoint in Tibet.
Conclusion of Tibet Travel Permit
All the information above is accurate and up to date as of March 2021. We hope it makes it easier for all to make your travel plan to Tibet.
Please do not hesitate to email us if you have any question. You can reach us at [email protected].
Read more about Tibet Travel information and Tibet Tours packages. Please visit our blog: Nomadictibet.com.