Tibet Visa & Permit FAQs

A great number of tourists enter Tibet via Kodari Border in Kathmandu by air or by road. Tibet is Not only does Nepal border , it boasts the tourist hub of South Asia. According to the Chinese immigration regulation, travelers who enter Tibet from Nepal are required to apply for Group Tourist Visa, a kind of single entry visa, at the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.

1. What documents do I need to visit Tibet?
To visit Tibet you should have a valid passport, a Chinese visa, and a Tibet Travel Permit, it is also called a Tibet Entry Permit or Tibet Visa. When you book the tour from us, we will obtain the Tibet Travel Permit for you from the Tibet Tourism Bureau, so all you need to do is send us scanned copies of your passports and Chinese visa by email and we will take care of the rest.

2. What documents do I need to send you to apply for TTP?
Once you have confirmed your tour with us, we need you to send us clear scanned copies of Passports and China Visas for every member of the group to apply for the Tibet Travel Permit. If your China Visa is not an “L” visa, then you must also provide additional documents such as student certificates, work permits, residence permits, and so on.

3. How do I obtain the Tibet Travel Permit?
To obtain Tibet Travel Permits, it is necessary to make your travel arrangements through a genuine local travel agency, providing clear scanned copies of your passport and China visa. Please note that it’s impossible to board any flights or trains to Tibet without the Travel Permit. The permits specify every destination and all the towns you would visit during the tour and cannot be changed once you have arrived in Tibet; therefore, be sure to detail all possible destinations and the route before you decide on your trip. It usually takes 3 working days for the Tibet Travel Permit to be issued. I can take 5 to 7 days if your particular tour requires a Military Permit and PSB permit.

4. What kind of trip requires a Military Permit, PSB Permit, and Alien Travel Permit?
Military and PSB Permits are only needed for those trips going through sensitive areas or a border region; these trips include the Mt. Kailash trip, Sichuan-Tibet Overland Tour, Tibet-Kashigar Overland Tour, and so on. Alien’s Travel Permits are necessary if you are going to Mt. Everest Base Camp, Samye Monastery (southern part of Tibet), Nyinchi (Eastern part of Tibet), and Mt. Kailash, but these can be issued from the local PSB just before you enter the region.

5. How long does the Tibet Permit application process take?
Normally, Tibet permits can be issued in 3 – 5 working days, but if your tour itinerary covers some restricted or unopened areas like Everest Base Camp, Mt. Kailash, Sichuan-Tibet highway, and Yunnan-Tibet highway, it needs several different permits, then it would take around 7-9 working days.

6. How and when do I receive the Tibet Permit?
Normally, we can apply for the Tibet Travel Permit 10-15 days before the trip’s starting date. If you are going to fly into Tibet, you should have the original permit to board the flight to Tibet, so you should provide us with details about your hotel or residence address in China (including the correct name under which the booking is made) and we will send the original permit to you by EMS which takes 24hrs to 3 days within China, we never mail it abroad as it takes longer and could be delayed or lost. If you don’t have a long layover or overnight in China, you can send us your detailed international flight information and we can arrange for someone to deliver the permit to you at the airport.

7. How can we enter Tibet from Kathmandu, Nepal?
There are two main ways to get into Tibet from Nepal, either through a direct flight from Kathmandu to Tibet (normally available on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday) or by an overland drive to Tibet. The overland drive poses a greater risk of getting Altitude sickness due to the extreme increase in elevation along the way.

8. What documents are needed if we enter Tibet from Nepal?
If you plan to enter Tibet from Nepal, you must get the TIBET GROUP VISA from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu whether or not you already have a Chinese Visa. The Tibet Group Visa is an A4 size sheet of paper, with the name, sex, nationality, passport number, date of birth, and occupation of each member of your group listed. The dates of entry and exit are precisely recorded. Usually, the visa is valid only for the length of the trip you have booked but it’s possible to get the visa extended for a few additional days, for stays in Lhasa only. There will be two original copies of the Tibet Group Visa, one for immigration at the entry and one for the exit. We can easily help you with the Tibet Group Visa application. We also highly recommend if you enter Tibet via Nepal not to apply for an individual Chinese Visa in your country; when you arrive in Kathmandu, you will need to apply for the Group Visa to enter Tibet and the Chinese Embassy will cancel your individual Chinese Visa when you receive the Group Visa.