Licences, IDPs & staying legal

Short version: To ride anything bigger than a 50cc moped legally, you need a licence Vietnam recognises. For visitors that means a 1968-convention International Driving Permit (IDP) carried with a home licence that includes a motorcycle category. UK and most EU riders can get one. Holders of US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Irish licences can't, because those countries issue the older 1949 permit. Riding unlicensed risks fines, an impounded bike and worthless insurance.

Heads up: This is not legal advice. We've read the law and the embassy pages, but we aren't lawyers, and the rules and their enforcement changed more than once in 2025 and 2026. Check your own government's travel advice before you book.

What the law asks for

Vietnam's Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, in force since 1 January 2025, sorts two-wheelers by engine size.

Two things catch people out:

• Popular "150cc" touring bikes such as the Honda XR150 are over 125cc, so they need class A: a full motorcycle licence, not a light-bike one.
• The licence-free moped class is limited to 40 km/h. Legal, but a slow way to cover 2,000 km.

Which IDPs count

An IDP is a translation of your licence, not a licence. Vietnam's law recognises one only when the IDP and the national licence behind it both come from a country that has joined the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, and you must carry the two together. Permits issued under the older 1949 Geneva Convention aren't covered.

The category must match too. A car-only licence gives a car-only IDP. For a motorbike you need category A (A1 covers 125cc and under).

Older guides that lump the UK in with the 1949 countries are out of date. Websites selling "international licences" don't help either: an IDP only counts when it comes from the country that issued your licence.

If your IDP doesn't count

Your honest options, simplest first:

• Ride something licence-free. A 50cc moped or a small electric bike. Ask your insurer whether they cover it.
• Ride pillion or hire a driver for all or part of the route. The directory lists guides and easy riders.
• Convert your licence. Under Circular 108/2026 (in force since July 2026), a foreigner living, working or studying in Vietnam can swap a home licence that includes a motorcycle category for a Vietnamese one, with a notarised translation. It needs a visa or residence card valid for at least 90 days and expires with it. Visa-free entry doesn't qualify. Canada and Australia describe it as a route for residents of three months or more, and reports vary on whether tourists with a 90-day e-visa are accepted. Don't build a four-week trip around it.
• Sit the Vietnamese test. The theory paper is only offered in Vietnamese.

Plenty of travellers just ride anyway. We wouldn't, and the next sections are why.

Police stops and fines

Enforcement tightened in 2026. Khanh Hoa province ordered checks on rental shops and foreign riders around Nha Trang, and hundreds of foreigners were penalised there. Checkpoints on the Ha Giang loop have asked for licences for years.

At a stop, expect to show your licence and IDP, the bike's registration card and its insurance certificate. If something is missing, the official process is a written violation record, a fine paid at the State Treasury or a bank, and often the bike held (typically up to seven working days) until you've paid. Travellers still report informal roadside cash "fines" on some routes. Accounts vary, and we wouldn't plan around them.

Fines under Decree 168/2024 (US dollar figures approximate, at 2026 rates):

That last row is why decent rental shops now want to see your papers.

The blue card

Every bike has a registration certificate, the blue card. It names the owner and lists the plate, frame and engine numbers. Carry the original, or the certified copy and contract a rental shop gives you, and check the numbers match the bike. A tourist can't register a bike in their own name; see Rent or buy?.

Visas, briefly

• E-visa: up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, tied to the entry and exit points you choose. Apply only through the official immigration portal linked from your government's travel advice.
• Visa-free: UK passports get up to 45 days, as do some other European and Asian ones. Canadians need a visa. Check the advice for your own passport.

Why insurance cares

Travel policies almost always require a licence that's valid, in the country you're in, for the bike you're on. Australia's official advice says an insurer will likely deny any claim if you're unlicensed or hold the wrong class of licence, and the UK and Canada both tell riders to check their licence and cover first. In Vietnam a serious crash can also bring criminal charges, compensation payments and a ban on leaving the country until things are settled.

The bike's own compulsory third-party insurance is separate. It must be in date, but it covers neither you nor the bike.

What we'd do

• Look at your licence. Is there a full motorcycle category on it?
• Check your country against the 1968 list. If it's there, get the 1968 IDP before you leave home.
• Match the bike to the paper. A1 means 125cc or less.
• No legal route? Choose the moped, the pillion seat or the driver, or go in knowing exactly what you're risking.
• Email your insurer: "Am I covered riding a 125cc motorbike in Vietnam on this licence and IDP?" Keep the reply.
• Carry the originals (licence, IDP, blue card, insurance certificate) and keep photos on your phone.
• Re-read your government's advice the week you fly.

Questions? Ask on the board.