International driving permit in Vietnam: who is covered

International driving permit in Vietnam rules point to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Viet Nam is on that convention's list of parties and the United States is not. AAA's own list of places that honor its permit leaves out Viet Nam. We could not read the Vietnamese law that sets the rule for visitors, so this article sets out the evidence and says where it stops.

Two conventions, two lists

International driving permits come from two United Nations road traffic conventions, signed at Geneva in 1949 and at Vienna in 1968. We read the UN Treaty Collection's list of parties for each.

Cyprus and Malta are the two EU members missing from the 1968 list. Switzerland, Norway and the Russian Federation are on it.

The 1949 list also carries an entry for Viet Nam, dated 2 November 1953. The Vietnamese rules we read refer to the 1968 convention only, and we have not worked out what the 1953 entry means today.

What the Vietnamese rules say

Circular 35/2024/TT-BGTVT, issued by the Ministry of Transport on 15 November 2024, took effect on 1 January 2025. It repealed Circular 29/2015/TT-BGTVT, the earlier circular on international driving permits. Article 45 says that a licence recognised under an international treaty on mutual recognition that Viet Nam has joined is used in line with that treaty.

The Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, No. 36/2024/QH15, also took effect on 1 January 2025. We could not read its article on foreign licences. The published PDF is a scan, and the legal databases refuse automated reading. So we quote no clause of the law.

What AAA says

AAA issues the US permit. It says Article 24 of the 1949 convention lets the State Department authorise organisations to issue it. Its application form lists the places that honor the permit, as of August 2026, under the heading of the 1949 Geneva convention.

Viet Nam is not on that list. Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar and Brunei are. Cambodia is not on it either.

What the UK government says

The UK advice says that to drive a car or motorbike in Vietnam you need both the 1968 version of the international driving permit and your UK licence, and that third-party insurance is required. It adds that rules for licences from other countries can differ, so check yours. The rest of its road advice, on helmets, alcohol and bus travel, is on our health and safety page.

What police are doing

Traffic police in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam, stopped foreign riders in Nha Trang in May 2026, according to Tuoi Tre News.

• A Russian man showed an Indonesian driving licence and no international driving permit. He was taken, with his motorbike, to the police station.
• A Canadian man could not show a valid permit and argued that his tourist visa exempted him. Police fined him and impounded the motorbike. The owner of the motorbike was also fined, for letting a person with no licence ride it.

The report says nothing about US permits. It shows that police ask for the permit, and that in this case they did not accept a tourist visa in its place.

What we could not confirm

• We read no Vietnamese legal text that says in terms whether a permit issued in the United States is valid. The evidence is indirect: AAA's list does not include Viet Nam, and the United States is not on the 1968 list.
• We did not confirm from a primary source which licence classes a permit must show for a motorbike.
• We did not test whether a rental shop, an insurer or the police will accept a given permit.

Our reading, which is not an official statement, is that a permit issued in the United States is not what the Vietnamese rules point to, and that you should not plan to ride or drive on one. If you hold a UK or EU permit, check which convention it says it follows. Before you rent, ask the shop in writing what it requires, and ask a Vietnamese embassy or consulate in your country.

For the other entry rules, see the Vietnam visa page, our guide to the e-visa for US citizens and the 45-day visa exemption lists.

References

• United Nations Treaty Collection, Convention on Road Traffic (Vienna, 1968), list of parties: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XI-B-19&chapter=11&clang=_en. Checked 2026-10.
• United Nations Treaty Collection, Convention on Road Traffic (Geneva, 1949), list of parties: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XI-B-1&chapter=11&clang=_en. Checked 2026-10.
• Circular 35/2024/TT-BGTVT, text as published by LuatViet: https://luatvietnam.vn/giao-thong/thong-tu-35-2024-tt-bgtvt-dao-tao-cap-giay-phep-lai-xe-giay-phep-lai-xe-quoc-te-chung-chi-giao-thong-duong-bo-378513-d1.html. Checked 2026-10.
• Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, No. 36/2024/QH15: https://tulieuvankien.dangcongsan.vn/he-thong-van-ban/van-ban-quy-pham-phap-luat/luat-trat-tu-an-toan-giao-thong-duong-bo-so-362024qh15-hieu-luc-thi-hanh-tu-ngay-01012025-10737. Checked 2026-10. Text of the article on foreign licences not read.
• AAA, International Driving Permit application form with the list of areas that honor the permit, as of August 2026: https://www.aaa.com/vacation/docs/IDP_Application2a.pdf. Checked 2026-10.
• AAA International Relations, International Driving Permits: https://www.aaa.com/international/idp.html. Checked 2026-10.
• Tuoi Tre News, foreigners caught riding motorbikes without international driving permits in Khanh Hoa, 14 May 2026: https://news.tuoitre.vn/foreigners-caught-riding-motorbikes-without-international-driving-permits-in-vietnams-khanh-hoa-103260514161445285.htm. Checked 2026-10.
• UK FCDO travel advice for Vietnam, safety and security: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/safety-and-security. Checked 2026-09.

Photo: Mã Pí Lèng, Vietnam.jpg, Hoach Le Dinh, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%A3_P%C3%AD_L%C3%A8ng,_Vietnam.jpg

Data checked: October 2026.