Vietnamlawmagazine

I am from Thailand and currently working in Vietnam. I was granted a driver's license in Vietnam last year. May I apply for an international driving permit (IDP) in Vietnam? What must I 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 IDPs.

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.

Holders of IDPs will also have to carry along their domestic driving permits when driving road motor vehicles in the territories of contracting states to the 1968 Vienna Convention__Photo: The Voice of Vietnam

If meeting the said requirements, you have to make an application for an IDP 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 approxiamately VND 135,000.

After five working days, you will be granted an IDP, 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 IDP, it will issue a reply clearly stating the reason.

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

You will have to carry along the IDP 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.- (VLLF)

Full name:…………………………………………………………………………………..

Nationality:…………………………………………………………………………………

Date of birth:………………………………………………………………………………..

Place of current permanent residence:……………………………………………………...

Passport No.:………………………………………………………………………………..

Date of issuance: date:………..month……….year………………………………………...

Current driving license No:……………………………………………………...

Issuing office:……………………………………………………………………………….

Place of issuance:…………………………………………………………………………...

Date of issuance: date:………..month……….year………………………………………...

Valid until: date:………..month……….year………………………………………............

Purpose of application for International Driving Permit:

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Attached document: 1 color passport photo (of 3cm x 4cm size on a white background).

I certify that all the information included in this application and attached document is correct and true.