Driving in Vietnam as a Foreigner: Licence, IDP and Conversion Rules

For most visitors, a foreign licence works in Vietnam only with an international driving permit from a Vienna Convention country. Carry it with a still-valid national licence covering your vehicle class. Riding without a valid licence: an individual faces VND 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 up to 125cc or 11kW electric, VND 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 above, and police may hold the bike.

For most visitors, riding a motorbike in Vietnam on a home-country licence means also carrying an international driving permit (IDP). That IDP must come from a Vienna Convention member country, and you carry it together with a still-valid national licence for your vehicle class.

A Vietnamese-issued licence works on its own, whereas a foreign licence needs either the IDP combination or a recognition treaty or agreement between its country and Vietnam. This guide covers motorbikes.

Which licences and IDPs are valid in Vietnam

Vietnamese law lists the driving licences valid on its roads, and two of them matter most for foreigners. One is a licence issued by a competent Vietnamese authority, and the other is an IDP plus a national licence suited to the vehicle class, with both documents issued by a Vienna Convention member country.

The law also recognises two treaty routes. One is a licence from a country or territory that has signed a mutual-recognition treaty or agreement with Vietnam, and the other is a foreign licence from a country recognised under a treaty Vietnam is a member of. The IDP route runs through the 1968 UN Convention on Road Traffic, known as the Vienna Convention.

Vietnamese law defines that IDP as one issued by a competent state authority of a Vienna Convention member country, and that IDP must meet these conditions:

• follow a uniform template
• run for no more than 3 years counted from the date it was issued
• not run past the time left on the national licence you carry with it

If you ride on that combination, you must carry the IDP and a still-valid national licence for your vehicle class, because the IDP alone is not enough. You must also follow Vietnam’s road traffic rules while you ride.

Which motorbike licence class you need: A1 or A

The class you need depends on engine size or electric motor power. Class A1 covers two-wheeled motorbikes with a cylinder capacity up to 125cc, or with an electric motor of up to 11kW. A two-wheeled motorbike above that, over 125cc or an electric motor over 11kW, needs class A instead, which also covers everything class A1 covers.

The penalty for riding without a valid licence

On a motorbike up to 125cc or 11kW electric, riding without a valid licence carries a fine of VND 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 for an individual. The same band applies to an expired licence or to a licence that does not cover the vehicle you are riding, and to a foreign IDP carried without a national licence for the vehicle class.

Riding a bigger motorbike (over 125cc or 11kW electric) or a three-wheeled motorbike without a valid licence carries a fine of VND 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 for an individual. A licence that does not cover the vehicle, or an IDP without a national licence for the vehicle class, is fined in the same band. For either band, Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP allows officers to temporarily hold the motorbike before deciding on the fine.

Converting a foreign licence to a Vietnamese one

If you would rather not deal with the IDP-and-national-licence combination, you can apply to have your foreign licence converted into the matching Vietnamese class. You can be considered if you are a foreigner residing, working or studying in Vietnam with a still-valid national licence, and you hold one of these documents:

• a diplomatic identity card
• an official identity card
• a visa or temporary residence card with 90 days or more still left on it
• a valid permanent residence card

The converted licence’s term is set to fit the term of your licence, visa, temporary residence card or permanent residence card.

Some documents cannot be converted at all: an IDP, a temporary foreign licence, an expired foreign licence, or one not issued by a competent authority. The same goes for a licence erased or torn so badly that it no longer has enough information to convert, or a licence that shows a difference in identification.

The application file contains:

• a Vietnamese translation of your foreign licence, certified or produced as described below
• a copy of a diplomatic or official identity card, a visa or temporary residence card with 90 days or more left, or a valid permanent residence card
• a valid electronic health certificate (a paper one only from a qualified medical facility, and only if the electronic one has a technical fault)

The translation’s quality must be certified by a notarial authority in Vietnam, or the translation must come from a Vietnamese representative agency abroad. The body that certified or produced the translation stamps a seal across the join between the translation and a copy of the licence. The health certificate is not required from a foreigner converting for the term shown on their entry visa or temporary residence card.

You submit that set of documents in person to the Traffic Police Division (the city-level unit; the national one is the Traffic Police Department). A commune-level police office set up to receive these applications also takes them, or you can file online through the National Public Service Portal.

If you file in person, you do one of three things: you are photographed on the spot, you use the photo in your ID data, or you bring a 3 cm x 4 cm white-background portrait. You also show the original documents for comparison (except originals you already sent) and pay the fee as prescribed. If you file online, you pay the conversion fee through the Portal’s own payment function, plus any other service fees you choose to use.

Once the Traffic Police Division has a complete, valid file, it forwards your data within 1 day to the central Traffic Police Department, which issues the licence. The electronic licence is integrated into the National Identification app or the Public Security apps. If you ask for a printed licence, it is printed and handed over within two and a half working days of receiving the complete file.

When the file is valid, the office enters the data and prints an appointment slip. If it does not convert the licence, it must reply in writing and state the reason. The licence is handed back at the office that took your file, or posted at your request, and the file set stays with you as your own original file, together with your foreign licence.

Where to file in Da Nang

In April 2025 the Da Nang city police announced that their Traffic Police Division would take driving-licence issue and exchange applications from 21 April 2025. The reception point they named is the Traffic Police Division headquarters at 18 Vo An Ninh Street, Hoa Xuan Ward. Hoa Xuan is the ward formed in 2025 from the former Hoa Xuan ward and the former Hoa Chau and Hoa Phuoc communes.

This fits alongside the other paperwork of settling in as a foreigner in Da Nang. See the temporary residence card guide if that is the document you’ll use to qualify, and browse the Da Nang money and admin guides for what comes next.

↑ Contents

Not confirmed: Whether your country's IDP counts as one from a Vienna Convention member. Whether your country has a mutual-recognition treaty or agreement with Vietnam. How much the conversion fee is. Ask the Traffic Police Division about each before you ride or file.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

Spotted an error? Report it.