How to obtain the International Driver’s License in Vietnam?

If you’re foreigners who are currently working in Vietnam or planning a motorbike tour in Vietnam. You might be much more concerned about of how to apply for an international driver’s license in Vietnam (IDL)? What legal procedures must you do to get that?

According to the Vietnamese law (the Ministry of Transport’s Circular No. 29/2015/TT-BGTVT dated July 6, 2015), Vietnamese and foreigners with permanent residence cards granted by Vietnamese authorities, who have been granted driver’s licenses which are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and remain valid, may apply for IDLs.

However, you have to wait until October 1 this year to send your application to the Vietnam Road Administration or the Transport Department of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Other provincial-level Transport Departments will grant IDPs later once fully equipped for the job.

If meeting the said requirements, you have to make an application for an IDL according to the prescribed form, and submit it directly to one of the above three permit-granting offices, produce your original Vietnam’s domestic driving license, passport and permanent residence card that remain valid, for examination and comparison, and pay a fee of approximately VND 135,000.

However, if you are having no time to carry out all legal procedures by yourself, we can help you do this by offering a service charge of US$ 140/person and we will complete everything for you then after 3 – 5 working days, your IDL will be issued & handed over to you.

After five working days, you will be granted an IDL, which will be valid for no more than three years from the date of grant corresponding to the remaining validity duration of your domestic driving license. In case the application is improperly made, you will be guided for modification by the permit-granting agency. In case the permit-granting agency refuses to grant an IDL, it will issue a reply clearly stating the reason.

An IDL granted by a Vietnamese transport authority will be valid in 85 countries which are contracting parties to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.

You may not be granted an International Driver’s License in the following cases:

– Your domestic driving license is erased or so damaged that necessary information can no longer be read or there is any difference in your personal identification information;

– Your domestic driving license has not been granted by a competent authority under regulations.

Upon detecting that an IDL holder has provided untruthful information in the IDL application or erased, modified or falsified information on the granted IDL. The agency that has granted the IDL will issue a decision to revoke the IDL and the violator will be held responsible before the law and not be granted another IDL in three years from the date his violation is detected.

You will have to carry along the IDL and domestic driving license when driving road motor vehicles in the territories of contracting states to the 1968 Vienna Convention and comply with the road traffic laws of those countries.