Chinese visa and Tibet Travel Permits
The government regulates travel into Tibet autonomous region of China in order to minimize the negative effects of tourism upon its fragile environment, culture and politics. Independent traveling, backpacking or hitching is considered serious offence of the laws and you invite a lot of legal and financial troubles if you are caught. All visitors to Tibet must travel with an authorized Tibetan Tour Operator or its overseas representatives with a prepaid and preplanned itinerary; equipped with necessary permits and Chinese visa .You will be assigned a licensed guide to escort you through out the tour.
There are two kinds of permits for traveling in Tibet: The Entry Permit (TTB permit) and the Alien's Travel Permit (PSB permit). The permits are the part of package you buy with us.
TTB Permit - Tibet Entry Permit
TTB permit or Entry permits must be produced when you check in Lhasa bound flight or at the port of entry. While entering Tibet overland, besides TTB permit, the guide must be holding PSB -Alien's Travel Permit and numerous other permits needed for different regions.
PSB Permit - Alien's Travel Permit
If you want to go further to the "un-opened" areas out of Lhasa, you need an Alien's travel permit issued by Public Security Bureau (PSB) of Tibet. It is called "Alien's Travel Permit" or "PSB permit".
Traveling Tibet via mainland Chinese Cities
If you plan to travel to Tibet via mainland Chinese cities, you will obtain Chinese visa on your own and provide us a copy of this at least a month ahead of your travel date so that we can timely apply Tibet entry permit and alien permits. Tibet entry and alien permits are applied by us for you in Lhasa. Original copy of the entry permit is shipped to your contact address or hotel in the gateway city or with a nominal fee, we can also arrange delivery of the original permit to your hotel or contact person, if you have any. Chinese regulation does not permit producing copies of the permit or shipping out of the country. You need to have the entry permit handy when you check-in on Lhasa bound flight
In Chinese visa application, DO NOT disclose your Tibet intention or you will be directed for a Group Visa which is a tedious process and has more disadvantages than advantages. A group visa comes in a letter size paper sheet which lists the names and passport information of all the participants. Travel Itinerary should be fixed and dates of entry and exit are specified. If you are looking for a flexible itinerary and in the event that you need to split from the group, or you plan to exit Tibet (China) and re-enter, then it becomes quite complicated.
Traveling to Tibet via Nepal
If you are entering Tibet via Nepal (by flight or overland), the Chinese Tibet tourism regulation requires that we apply your group visa in Chinese embassy of Kathmandu!!! Our local office in Lhasa obtains Group Visa Invitation Letter for you through a booked tour and we will need to submit your original passport and visa invitation letter to Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. Chinese Embassy Consular Section accepts visa invitation and passport only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 am to 11:00 am. Normal visa processing requires 3 working days but with an additional rush fee, we can collect passport and group visa the same day evening after 5 pm.
In principle, group visa is valid for the period of trip you book through us but we can try to add a few days extra if you wish to stay in Lhasa on your own but the recent change requires that you must hire a guide throughout your stay in Tibet.
Passport Validity
Your passport should be valid for at least 6 months at the time of travel and there should be enough blank pages for entry and departure seals. Please make several copies of your passports and keep them in separate places. Loosing a passport invites a lot of issues as you have to travel all the way to Beijing to get a new one.
