Tourist Visa and Tibet Permits
A Tibet tour usually requires foreign tourists to have a valid passport, Chinese visa and necessary Tibet travel permits for entering and travelling in Tibet.
Chinese Visa
It can be obtained from the local Chinese embassy / consulate in your country. A tourist visa ("L" Visa) will be issued for sightseeing and visiting relatives in China. It is for a short duration of stay, usually 30 days, and can't be extended upon expiration.
There is another kind of tourist visa - Group Visa which is not issued on passports but on a separate paper for the group. It requires the group members to enter and exit China all together.
Important Note: If you are planning to join in part of a group journey and leave in the middle, you are strongly recommended to inform the travel agency which operating the tour for the group prior to your arrival.
And if you are coming to Lhasa from Kathmandu, it is stipulated in an official memo between China and Nepal, that you shall get the Chinese Visa in Kathmandu no matter if you've already got one in your country or not. It usually requires you to be there at least three days in advance to secure the visa. So except you have tour planning in Kathmandu, it is usually not suggested to get into Tibet from there.
Tibet Permits
Beside a valid passport with a valid visa, a Travel Entry Permit or TTB Permit is required for entering into Tibet legally. If you want to visit the unopened areas, you need another permit - Aliens Travel Permit or PSB Permit. You can get all these permits very easily from us.
TTB Permit / Entry Permit
This permit is issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB), so also called TTB Permit. It is required while booking the
flights and trains to Lhasa and checking in at the airport. Groups traveling by land cruisers also need this permit. Please see its title sample here -
Usually it takes only three to five working days to get the permit. However you are suggested to apply for it as early as possible, especially in the hot travel season (May-Oct).
PSB Permit / Aliens' Travel Permit
When travel to areas officially closed (such as Gyantse, Sakya, Mt. Everest, Samye, the Yarlung Valley, etc.),
an Aliens' Travel Permit issued by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) is required. Here is a picture of it:
Other Permits
In addition, a military permit and a foreign-affairs permit are required for traveling to sensitive border areas
like Mt. Kaillash and the eastern Tibet.
How to get the Tibet permits
As a local travel agency based in Lhasa for more than ten years, we can get all these Tibet permits for you very easily.
The only thing you need to do is to fax us a copy of your passport and visa, and provide following information:
- Full Name;
- Gender;
- Date of Birth;
- Nationality;
- Passport Number
- Occuptation
Note: Diplomats, journalists and government officials shall travel to Tibet under the arrangement of the Foreign Affairs Office of Tibet Government.
How much do the Tibet permits cost
The Travel Entry Permit costs about 7USD/p.p and the Aliens Travel Permit 10USD/p.p which will be charged by the government department.
Note: The Lhasa Public Security Bureau will not issue travel permits to individuals and will direct you to a local travel agency. We can arrange the travel permit to almost anywhere in Tibet for you if you book a vehicle, driver and guide with us. However, we do not sell Tibet permits and conduct permit-only service.