Passport, Visa and Permit

When you are traveling to Tibet, you need (1) a visa to enter China and then (2) a special Tibetan Tourist Permit (TTB) to enter Tibet. The visa to enter China can be obtained from a Chinese consulate that has jurisdiction of your residential area. All individuals entering Tibet must hold a passport that is valid for at least six months. There are two ways to apply for your visa: (1) you, a family member, or a friend can go directly to the consulate or (2) use a visa service agency for an additional fee of about $25.00. However, TVP recommends you send your passport directly to our preferred travel agency with your visa application and two passport size photos. Please do not fill your home address in the visa application as TVP will use its agency’s address as your home town might not fall under jurisdiction of Chicago where TVP applies for visas. If you do not have the visa application, it can be printed from http://chicago.china-consulate.org/eng. Please put ‘pleasure and sightseeing’ as the purpose of the trip and the places to visit are: Chengdu, China. Do not say your purpose of visit is to: volunteer for Tibetan Village Project as you may not get a visa. All visas for our purpose are issued under the ‘tourism’ category. Although you may not need it, you will be applying for a three-month visa with no extra cost incase you fall in love with a nomad; decided travel to other places; or do more volunteer work! TVP will arrange your Tibet permit and purchase your roundtrip flight between Chengdu to Lhasa ($300 - $400 for round trip). Your program cost does not include this airfare and you will reimburse it to TVP once you arrive in Chengdu.