Tools
Countries that require an International Driving Permit
The list below sorts each country by what it asks of a US license holder, from the State Department's own wording and, for a few, the national text.
Which countries require an International Driving Permit?
IDP required with your US license
29 countries
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola1 month from entry
- Argentina
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Bulgaria
- Czechia
- Estonia
- Ghana
- Greece185 days of a stay
- India
- Japan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Lithuania
- Malaysia
- Mongolia6 months from entry
- North Macedonia
- Poland6 months of a stay
- Romania90 days of a stay
- Serbia6 months of a stay
- Seychelles
- Slovakia90 days of a stay
- Slovenia1 year after you become a resident
- South Korea
- Spain
- Ukraine
Of the 85 countries we classified from the State Department's country pages and national texts, read on November 1, 2026, 29 require an International Driving Permit together with a US license, 6 require either a permit or an official translation, 41 accept the US license alone for visitors, often for a limited time, and 8 accept neither the license nor the permit, so a visitor cannot drive without a local license. Countries that require the permit include Japan, Spain, Greece, South Korea, India and Poland. Italy, France, Germany and Austria ask for the permit or a translation. The United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada and Portugal accept the license alone. China and Vietnam accept neither. Rental companies can still ask for a permit where the law does not, and the State Department notes that some insurers do.
Which road traffic convention has this country joined?
Germany
1968 only
| 1949 Geneva | not a party |
| 1968 Vienna | party since 1978 |
| Our reading of the rule: IDP or official translation required | |
Party to the 1968 Vienna convention only, which the United States has not joined. The United States is a party to the 1949 convention only; a country's own law can still ask for more, or less.
Rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Permit required: 29 countries
Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Ghana, Greece, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain and Ukraine.
Permit or translation: 6 countries
Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Russia.
US license alone: 41 countries
Albania, Aruba, Australia, Belize, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Palau, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sint Maarten, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Türkiye, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Uruguay.
Neither accepted: 8 countries
Armenia, China, Dominica, Eritrea, Nepal, North Korea, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Vietnam.
How the list is made
For each country, we read the driving passage of the State Department's country page, received through the Department's public data feed, and classified it in one of the four groups when the wording allowed it. For Italy, France, Germany, the UK and Australia, we also read the national rule itself. Where the text is silent or ambiguous, the country is left unclassified rather than guessed: it still appears in the country checker with the State Department's words, so you can judge. Each country page dates the text it quotes; the method page gives the details.
Time limits
A country listed under "US license alone" usually sets a limit: 12 months from entry in the UK, six months in Portugal, 90 days in Iceland. The limit calculator gives the last day for an arrival date.