Tibet Travel Expert service shares travel information about Tibet Travel Permit 2018 - Everything You Need to Know
Tibet Travel Permit (TTP), also called Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) Permit, or Tibet Visa (which isn't very accurate), is a travel document issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau to allow foreigners to enter and travel Tibet. Tibet Travel Permit is not a page nor a stamp on your passport, but a separate sheet of paper document which allows foreigners to enter and travel Tibet. Tibet Travel Permit can only be obtained via a local travel agency. Below is a thorough sum-up of everything you need to know about Tibet Travel Permit.
Who Needs Tibet Travel Permit
All foreign travellers need Tibet Travel Permit to travel Tibet. Travel agencies cannot obtain Tibet Travel Permit for diplomats, journalists and certain professional media photographers, who must apply via the diplomatic channels.
How to Obtain Tibet Travel Permit
Please contact us first to get an idea
Enter Tibet from Mainland China
Step 1: Contact us to have a tour with exact duration & itinerary in Tibet confirmed
Step 2: Provide us with a clear copy of your passport data page for us to apply Tibet Travel Permit
Step 3: Meanwhile, start you Chinese Visa application at local Chinese embassy, and provide us a copy of it later
Foreigners cannot apply Tibet Travel Permit by yourself, only a registered Tibet travel agency can obtain it for you. Your exact duration and itinerary in Tibet will be reflected on your Tibet Permit. With passport data page alone, we can start with the application of Tibet Travel Permit. Chinese Visa is not so urgently needed and can wait for later. Also, you are NOT supposed to mention Tibet while apply Chinese visa. Tibet Ctrip Travel Service Team can provide you a visa supporting document to help you apply it.
If you are to enter Tibet by flight from mainland China, you will need the original Tibet Travel Permit to board the flight. By law, as a travel agency, we are prohibited to mail Tibet Travel Permit overseas or we could be fined or have our licensed suspended. We can only mail it to a domestic address in China, usually your entry city (the city of mainland China before Tibet). To spend a night in your entry city is suggested to receive Tibet Travel Permit at your hotel there for free. If you have connected flight to Lhasa at the same day, we can send somebody to deliver it to you at airport by person, and an extra service fee will be charged which is no less cheap than to stay a night here.
Enter Tibet from Nepal
Step 1: Contact us to have a tour with exact duration & itinerary in Tibet confirmed
Step 2: Provide us with a clear copy of your passport data page for us to apply Tibet Travel Permit
Step 3: After your arrival in Kathmandu, 3-working-day is needed for us to apply you Chinese Group Visa (Not the usual Chinese visa)
To enter Tibet from Nepal, either by flight from Kathmandu or by overland from Gyirong Port, you don’t have to apply Chinese visa by yourself back home. The usual Chinese visa doesn’t work here. We have to apply Chinese group Visa for you at Kathmandu after your arrival with your original passport, of which takes 3-working-day. With it you can travel from Nepal to Tibet. After you enter Tibet, either by flight or land, your guide will pick you up with your Tibet Travel Permit for authority to check.
Chinese Group Visa is a separated sheet of paper which contains all travellers’ names, passport no., nationalities, gender and date of birth, etc. although it is called group visa, but the group can be as small as 1 person. And if you are to travel to mainland China after Tibet, this Chinese group visa will also cover the rest of your stay in China.
How much is Tibet Travel Permit
Tibet Travel Permit is not to be sold separately. It comes with a tour. Any cost associated with processing the TTP is charged by the travel agency that you hire, and is usually just included in your tour price. Such charges are understandable due to the time and hassle required by the agency to send staff in person to both submit the application and return to pick it up. Online submissions are not possible.
How long does it take to do Tibet Travel Permit
It depends on your itinerary in Tibet. The simpler the itinerary the quicker Tibet Permits is done. For example, a tour with only Lhasa and around, its Tibet Permit can be done in about 10 days. A tour with Mt Everest included, its Tibet Permit needs about 15~20 days. A tour with Ngari (western Tibet) needs 30 days at least.
However, permit situation is subject to unpredictable change, to book your tour at least 2 months prior is suggest.
From Which City of China can I Enter Tibet with My Tibet Travel Permit
Foreigners can enter Tibet from many cities of China where there is train or flight to Tibet. However, this city needs to be decided in advance. For it will be printed on your Tibet Travel Permit making it the only city you can enter Tibet from. The most commonly chosen cities by foreigners are Chengdu, Beijing, Xining, Shanghai, Xian, Kunming, and Guangzhou… and now there are some smaller counties also have flights to Lhasa, such as Shangri-la (Diqin), Kangding, and Labrang (Xiahe). The only international flight to Tibet is between Lhasa and Kathmandu.
When is a Tibet Travel Permit checked while traveling in Tibet?
Your Tibet travel Permit will be checked many times at many different places during your Tibet tour. First, it will be checked at airports or railways where you board a flight or train to Tibet. You will be denied of boarding if you don’t have Tibet Travel Permit even your train or flight has already been paid. After you arrival at Lhasa Airport/Railway, your Tibet Travel Permit will also be checked. After this, the responsibility of your TTP will be assumed by guide, who will need it to help you to check in at hotel, purchase of sight tickets, and pass the road checks once travel outside of Lhasa city.
Tibet Travel Permits Restrictions to following countries:
Moreover, from late 2017, the Tibet group visa application in Kathmandu takes at least 3 working days, and the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal had announced a new restriction for the Tibet Group Visa for 26 different nationalities as following: 1. Pakistan, 2. Bangladesh, 3. Sri Lanka, 4. Afghanistan, 5. Azerbaijan, 6. Lebanon, 7. Syria, 8. Iraq, 9. Iran, 10. Kazakhstan, 11. Kyrgyzstan, 12. Tajikistan, 13. Turkey, 14. Uzbekistan, 15. Albania, 16. Democratic Republic of Congo, 17. Ghana, 18. Cameroon, 19. Kenya, 20. Libya, 21. Mali, 22. South Sudan, 23. Nigeria, 24. Somalia, 25. Tunisia, 26. Chad. So, all these 26 nationalities travelers should obtain the Chinese visa from the Chinese Embassy in their home country. Travelers from Norway, Bhutan can not get Tibet travel permits in 2018.
