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

You may ride a motorbike in Vietnam on a foreign licence only when it is paired with an international driving permit from a country in the Vienna Convention, carried alongside a valid matching national licence. Riding without a valid licence risks a fine of 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 VND up to 125cc, or 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 VND above that.

You can legally ride a motorbike in Vietnam on your home country’s licence only if you are also carrying an international driving permit (IDP) issued by a country that is a member of the Vienna Convention, together with the matching national licence, still valid. A Vietnamese-issued licence works on its own; a foreign licence by itself does not.

Which licences and IDPs are valid in Vietnam

Vietnamese law recognises two kinds of driving licence as valid on its roads: one issued by a competent Vietnamese authority, or an IDP together with the national licence it was issued alongside, from a country that is a member of the 1968 UN Convention on Road Traffic, the Vienna Convention. That IDP has to follow a uniform template, run for no more than 3 years from its date of issue, and fit within whatever time is left on the national licence it travels with. If you are riding on that combination, Vietnamese law requires you to carry the IDP and the national licence together, not just the IDP on its own, and to follow Vietnam’s road traffic rules while you do.

Which motorbike licence class you need: A1 or A

The class that matters is engine size, not the bike’s style. Class A1 covers two-wheeled motorbikes with a cylinder capacity up to 125cc, or an electric motor power up to 11kW. Anything bigger — over 125cc, or an electric motor over 11kW — needs class A instead, which also covers everything class A1 does.

The penalty for riding without a valid licence

Riding a motorbike up to 125cc, or with an electric motor up to 11kW, without a valid licence carries a fine of 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 VND for an individual. The same fine band applies if you are carrying a foreign IDP from a Vienna Convention country but not the matching national licence. Riding a motorbike over 125cc, an electric motor over 11kW, or a three-wheeled motorbike, without a valid licence carries a fine of 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 VND for an individual. The decree also allows officers to temporarily hold the motorbike before deciding on the fine for these violations.

Converting a foreign licence to a Vietnamese one

If you would rather not deal with the IDP-and-national-licence combination, you may convert your foreign licence into the matching Vietnamese class if you are a foreigner residing, working or studying in Vietnam, your national licence is still valid, and you hold one of: a diplomatic identity card, an official identity card, a visa or temporary residence card valid for 90 days or more, or a valid permanent residence card. The converted licence’s validity is matched to the remaining validity of your national licence, visa, temporary residence card or permanent residence card.

The application file contains a Vietnamese translation of your foreign licence, with its translation quality certified by a notarial authority in Vietnam or by a Vietnamese representative agency abroad, glued to a copy of the licence; a copy of the identity document you used to qualify — diplomatic identity card, official identity card, visa or temporary residence card valid for 90 days or more, or permanent residence card; and a valid electronic health certificate. The health certificate doesn’t apply to 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 Department or commune-level police at a designated reception point, or file online through the National Public Service Portal. Filing online also means paying the driving-licence conversion fee through the Portal’s own payment function as part of completing your application.

Once the Traffic Police Department has your complete, valid file, it forwards your data for central issue within 1 day of receiving it; if you also want a printed licence, it is printed and handed over within two and a half working days.

Where to file in Da Nang

In Da Nang, the city police’s Traffic Police Department has taken licence issue and exchange applications at its headquarters, 18 Võ An Ninh, Hòa Xuân ward, since 21 April 2025.

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.

Not confirmed: Vietnamese law conditions a foreign IDP's validity entirely on the issuing country being a member of the Vienna Convention, but no government or legal-document source found in this research states which countries currently qualify, or how Vietnam treats an IDP from a country that never ratified, or has a disputed status under, that convention. Converting a foreign licence online also requires paying a fee through the National Public Service Portal "as regulated", but the circular does not state the amount, and no current published figure was found.

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.

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