China Visa & Tibet Travel Permit

China Visa & Tibet Travel Permit:

Traveling to Tibet requires both a Chinese visa and a Tibet Travel Permit. The process differs based on whether you’re entering Tibet from Nepal or China. If you are traveling from Kathmandu, please note that a Chinese visa issued in any other country will not be valid for entry into Tibet. Instead, a group visa will be issued for all travelers entering Tibet from Nepal.

Visa Procedure for Tibet from Kathmandu:

Step 1:
You must book a tour package with a local travel agent in Kathmandu. The minimum group size for obtaining a group visa is 4 participants.

Step 2:
After booking, send a scanned copy of your passport and make the payment. Once received, the agent will begin the process of obtaining your Tibet Travel Permit, which takes around 1 week to process.

Step 3:
Once the Tibet Travel Permit is obtained, the next step is to submit a China visa application to the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. You will need to be physically present in Kathmandu for this process as the embassy requires the original passport.

Step 4:
The China visa takes about 4 working days to be issued. It will be a group visa, not stamped in your passport, but rather in a separate sheet listing the names of all group members. All travelers in the group must enter and exit China at the same time.

Important: A visa issued from any other country will not be valid for Tibet travel if entering from Nepal.

China Free Visa Policy:

1. 30-Day Visa-Free Policy
China has now implemented a 30-day visa-free policy for citizens of several countries, valid until the end of 2025 (Countries unilaterally granted visa-free access by China).

List of Countries Covered by Unilateral Visa Exemption Policies

(Compiled according to information released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, as of February 17, 2026)

Europe (35 countries): Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Oceania (2 countries): Australia, New Zealand

Asia (7 countries): Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia

Americas (6 countries): Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Peru, Uruguay

Note: Nationals of the above countries holding ordinary passports may enter China visa-free for business, tourism, visits to relatives and friends, exchange visits, or transit, for stays of up to 30 days. The duration of stay is calculated from 00:00 on the day following the date of entry.

2: China has upgraded the original 144-Hour Visa-Free Transit to 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit for 54 countries including the UK, the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil … Also, the travel scope has been widened to 24 provinces of China and crossing provincial boundaries is allowed.

Important:  Tibet Travel Permit

This visa-free entry applies to mainland China. However, Tibet is a special administrative region, and a Tibet Travel Permit is still required even if you enter China without a visa. You can get the Tibet Travel Permit by booking the tour through the travel agents in Nepal and Tibet.

Passport:

One needs to have a validity of the passport having atleast 06 months or more on the day of departure from Tibet.

The Visa Application form and photograph size:

The Visa Application Form should be filled out clearly with recently taken color passport photo glued to it. The size of the photo should be 48mm (H)x33mm (W), with head width 21mm-24mm and head length 28mm-33mm, in white, light grey or light blue background.

 Visa apply Days: Monday through Friday

To obtain the China visa from Chinese Embassy Kathmandu it requires 4 to 5 working days.

Visa Apply time: 9:00 AM to 12: 00 PM

Visa Collection time: 10: AM to 4:00 PM