Tibet World Travel Tibet Tour, Tibet Trip, Tibet Travel, Tibet Train, Tibet Trekking,
Foreigners who want to go to Tibet Autonomous Region need to get a Tibet Travel Permit as well as China visa. You can only apply for Tibet Travel Permit by a Chinese tour operator as the permit is only issued to a Chinese travel agency now. You can join in not only a group tour of a travel agency, but also a private tour of a travel agency to get Tibet Travel Permit.Foreign visitors are not allowed to buy air ticket, train ticket or bus ticket to Tibet without Tibet Travel Permit. You need to apply for the permit at least 20 days in advance.
Note: New restrictions will come out anytime, if there are activities, like anniversary, and visited by government officials or foreign politicians and etc.
What are Tibet Permits?
There are 3 kinds of the permits to Tibet including the Tibet Travel Permit, the Aliens’ Travel Permit, and the Tibet Military Permit.
Foreign travelers have to apply for a Tibet Travel Permit as well as a China visa before heading to the Tibet Autonomous Region in China.
But if you want to travel to restricted areas like Everest Base Camp, Mt.Kailash, Sakya Monastery, Samye Monastery and Ranwu in Tibet, Aliens’ Travel Permit and Military Permit are needed.
Tibet Travel Permit
Only Chinese travel agencies can get the Tibet Travel Permit for you. Travelers have to join in a tour to get this permit. Permit application should be submitted 20 days before the tour starting date.All your information on the permit will be checked at airport or train station. You can get onboard on a train or a flight to Lhasa only when all the information matches on your Tibet Travel Permit. We will send the permit to your hotel in China before your tour.
Note: Ordinary travel agencies have no authority to apply for the Tibet Travel Permit for diplomats, government officials, Journalists and professional media photographer. They can only travel to Tibet under the arrangement of Foreign Affairs Department, Economic Development Committee and the like.
The Aliens’ Travel Permit
The Aliens’ Travel Permit, also called travel permit is the must-permit in the restricted areas, such as Everest Base Camp, Mt.Kailash, SakyaMonastery, Samye Monastery, Ranwu and etc. This permit is issued by Foreign Affairs Section in the local Public Security Bureau in Tibet as it should be applied for with your original passport. So you will not get this permit before the tour.
An Example:
If you plan to visit Mt Everest, you can only get this permit at Public Security Bureau in Shigatse, as Mt. Everest located in Shigatse.
Note: Your guide will help you to get this permit at Public Security Bureau. It is easily obtainable at your arrival. Wait for your guide for about 30 minutes or more depending on the number of tourists there.
Tibet Military Permit
Ngari, Nyingchi, Chamdo and Nagqu are the military sensitive regions in Tibet, so the Military Permit is a necessary document in these areas. But it is rarely used as only a few special tours involving those places. Original passport and Tibet permit are the documents to apply for the Military Permit which is only issued by the Lhasa military office. Usually, applying for the Military Permit takes one or two weeks.
Necessary Documents to Apply for the Permit
Once you confirm your tour with us, you need to send us a scanned copy of your passport and the Chinese tourist visa and offer real and true personal information such as full name, nationality, and occupation at least 20 days in advance by email.
Travelers can apply for an individual permit or a group permit which can be only handled by travel agencies in China. It is the absolutely wise choice to ask a travel agency to handle the Tibet Travel Permit.
Handling Procedures of Tibet Travel Permit
Visitors have to join in a tour group of a travel agency in China to get this permit.
Visitors have to examine personal materials (passport, visa, certification of employment and so on) and provide them to the travel agency.
Those materials will be checked by Tourist Administration.
Tourist Administration will provide Tibet Travel Permit
Public Security Office checks, stamps Tibet Travel Permit and paste anti-fake code on Tibet Travel Permit.
When to apply a Tibet Travel Permit
In order to travel in the restricted regions, it is better for foreign travelers to apply for the permit at least 20 days prior to the date of Travel. And it is at least 10 days prior to the date of Travel for a tour to the open places such as Lhasa (the capital of Tibet), and Mt. Everest.
When and What Kind of Tibet Permits Should be Provided for Check?
When go to Tibet by train, visitor should prepare the copy of the Tibet Travel Permit for check.
If visitors go to Tibet by air, they should prepare original Tibet Travel Permit.
If visitors enter Tibet from Qinghai land route, they should prepare original Tibet Travel Permit.
If visitors enter Tibet from Sinkiang land route, they should prepare original Tibet Travel Permit,
The official document of the entrance to the military region and the document of the entrance to border land.
If visitors go to Lhasa, Gyantse or Shigatze, they should prepare original Tibet Travel Permit.
If visitors go to Tsethang or Mount Everest scenic area, they should prepare original Tibet Travel Permit and travel certificate.
If visitors go to Ngari or Nyinchi, they should prepare original Tibet Travel Permit, travel certificate and official document of the entrance to the military region.
If visitors go to Tibet from Nepal, they should give the electronic edition of Tibet Travel Permit to the agency in Nepal.
Restricted Regions in Tibet
Although visitors can travel in Tibet, some parts in Tibet are still not open to the public. However, travelers with a travel permit can travel in the restricted regions. The restricted regions are consisting of Tsetang, Shigatse, Gyangtse, Ngari Region, Nyingchi Region, and Chamdo Region.
Additional Information about the Tibet Permit
Foreign travelers can go to Tibet from both China and Nepal. The Tibet permit is on the mustprepared document list on the journey from other cities in China to Tibet. The permit is necessary when travelers check in the airport or travel on the train to Tibet.
Entering Tibet via Nepal by Land or Air
China Group Visa for travelers entering Tibet from Nepal is a single entry tourist visa that issued by Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. Whether you have already got a China Visa before or not, you need to apply this Group Visa in Kathmandu. Once it is issued, any type of Chinese visa obtained before would be invalid or cancelled. Therefore, if you don’t have any Chinese Visa yet and plan to enter Tibet from Nepal, you just apply for your Chinese Visa in Kathmandu, not in your own country.
The Chinese Group Visa for entering Tibet from Nepal is usually valid for no more than 30 days, with which you can also enter mainland China. It is a sheet of paper that lists all of the names of the people in your group with their nationalities, birth dates and passport numbers. Single travelers also can obtain the Chinese Group Visa.
How to Get the Group Visa in Kathmandu
To apply for the Group Visa in Nepal, you need to arrive in Kathmandu few days in advance before your tour start, because you need to offer the original passport. Here are the detailed procedures of how to get your Chinese Visa in Kathmandu for your Tibet tour from Nepal.
1: After confirming your tour details with us, you send us a scanned copy of your passport.
2: We will offer an Invitation Letter to get a Group Visa number. At the meantime, we will help to apply for your Tibet Travel Permit.
3: After we get your Tibet Travel Permit, we will send scan copies of the permit and the Invitation Letter to our Nepal Business Partner.
4: You need to arrive in Kathmandu at least 3 days before your tour and our Nepal staff will fill the group visa application letter and sign it in person. Please remember to take youroriginalpassport, the permit, invitation letter, as well as a passport size photo (white background) with you to apply for your Group Visa.
5: In couples of days, you will get your Group Visa.
It seems a little complicated, but we can help you make it simple. Our tour packages include the application services for all the permits and visa you need for your trip and our 1-on-1 travel expert will always follow the whole procedures and keep in contact with you.
How May Days Should I Stay in Kathmandu to Get My Group Visa Processed?
It is suggested to arrive in Kathmandu at least 3 days in advance. The working day refers to Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It normally takes 3 working days to get the ordinary Group Visa, 2 working days for urgent ones, and 1 working day for top urgent ones. Though it’s possible to get the visa same-day, which means you submit it in the morning and get it in the afternoon, on Monday, Wednesday or Friday, it is not advised to do that for it’s really to hectic. And the more urgent your application is, the more service charges you need to pay.
| Nationality | Americans | Non-Americans |
| Normal (3 visa working days) | USD 142 | USD 58 |
| Urgent ( 2 visa working days) | USD 164 | USD 80 |
| Top Urgent (1 visa working days) | USD 198 | USD 114 |
Note that the above fee in the table is the price charged by the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu only, the visa agent in Kathmandu generally charges an amount of visa application service fee about USD 20 per person.
