Why Not Mention Tibet During Your China Visa Applying

If foreign travelers are planning to go to Tibet, the first thing to do is to apply for a China Visa. Tibet Autonomous Region is a part of China, so you surely need a Chinese Visa to visit Tibet. Before you apply for your China Visa, you may hear a voice from any experienced tour consultants - not to mention Tibet when applying for your Chinese Visa. But why it is so?

Why Not Mention Tibet When Applying For Your China Visa?

It is because if you mention that you would travel to Tibet during your stay in China, China Embassy would require you to present Tibet Tourism Bureau Permit (also called Tibet Travel Permit); but here in Tibet, Tibet Tourism Bureau would NOT issue TTB until your China Visa copy is provided. To sum up they are contradictory policies of different government departments which never get fixed, somehow.

It’s annoying, to you as well as to us, but we don’t see it being fixed any time soon. Thus to avoid unnecessary trouble, we suggest you NOT MENTION TIBET. When applying for your China Visa, you might find there's a section on the visa application form about where to visit in China. You may list any other destinations such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xián, Chengdu, etc. Do remember not to list Tibet or Tibet-related areas such as Lhasa, Amdo and Kham. Or your visa application will be rejected.

Even if you indicate that you will travel to China in general, sometimes the China Embassy may require you to provide more information about your stay in China, e.g. daily itinerary, hotel, round trip flight tickets, etc.

For the Proof of the Daily Itinerary

When this occurs, Great Tibet Tour will provide you with a Visa Supporting Doc with a fake China tour program avoiding Tibet, which will do the trick. For Visa Supporting Doc, we need the following information from you:

• When & Where will you first land in China
• When & Where will you last depart from China

For the Proof of Hotel Booking

The Chinese Embassies in different countries may not require the same proof for your China Visa. Some of them may ask for your hotel booking confirmation. Well, it's gonna be tricky since you can't list your hotel in Tibet. A simple way to resolve this problem is to book a hotel in mainland China via some online platforms like booking.com, trip.com, etc., where you can cancel your booking for free. Then make a screenshot of your booking confirmation page and print it, submit it with your China Visa application form. After that, please remember to cancel your booking soon. You don't have to worry about if any staff of the Chinese Embassy check your booking or not, cos they will never do that. There are so many channels to book a hotel in China and it's difficult to confirm one by one.

For the Proof of Round-trip Flight Tickets

The last but the most important requirement is to ask you to show your flight tickets to and from mainland China. For many travelers who will enter and leave Tibet from mainland China, there's no such problem. While for travelers who are going to Kathmandu from Tibet, it's a dilemma. As you only have domestic flight tickets from a mainland city to Lhasa or an international flight ticket from Lhasa to Kathmandu, both are related to Tibet! In this case, we suggest you try to submit your daily itinerary first and let the embassy know that your travel agency will help you buy the flight tickets out of China. If it still can't work, you can buy a flight ticket from Kunming to Bangkok at a cost of USD60.

Different Routes Require Different Visas

If your general route is as HOME → China → Tibet → China → Home, you only need to show the China Embassy your international flight booking of HOME → China & China → Home. The domestic flight/train to & from Tibet, within China, must be left unmentioned.

But if you were to travel as HOME → NEPAL → TIBET → CHINA/NEPAL → HOME, you do not need to apply for a China Visa at home by yourself, but also need a China Group visa in Kathmandu. In this case, you need your Tibet travel agency to prepare an invitation letter from the Tibet Tourism Bureau in advance. Upon your arrival in Kathmandu, you go to the Chinese embassy to apply for your group visa, along with your original passport, 2 passport-sized photos with a white background, and an invitation letter.

There are pros & cons for both routes, if you don’t take the trouble earlier at home, you will go through some trouble later at Kathmandu, so don’t let this decide your general route. Then, after getting your China Visa, another question may come to mind.

Can I Go to Tibet with a Chinese Visa?

Well, apart from your Chinese Visa, your Tibet Travel Permit(Tibet Visa) is also a mandatory document for your Tibet trip. Your Tibet Travel Permit can only be applied by your Tibet Travel agency from Tibet Tourism Bureau - a national administration under the Tibet Autonomous Region, instead of by individual travelers. And you need to book a Tibet tour in advance so that your travel agency can process your Tibet visa according to your travel destinations. Eg. If you are going to Lhasa, a Tibet Travel Permit works; if you are going to some remote areas outside of Lhasa, such as Mt.Everest, Shigatse, Shannan, Nyingchi, etc., besides your Tibet Travel Permit, an Alien's Travel Permit is needed; if you are going to Mt. Kailash, besides the previously mentioned permits, another Military Permit is needed.

All these sound rather complicated, but an experienced tour consultant will guide step by step. Just follow our instructions, and together we will get it done. Please get in touch with us and your professional tour consultants are ready to provide you with information that suits your travel plan best.