International Driving Permit in Afghanistan

🗓 We could not independently verify the road-traffic law for Afghanistan; facts here rely on official travel guidance where available. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in Afghanistan: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Afghanistan?
• What side of the road does Afghanistan drive on?
• How long can you drive in Afghanistan with a foreign licence?
• Is Afghanistan a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Afghanistan with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Afghanistan? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Afghanistan tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Afghanistan
• Sources

Driving in Afghanistan: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Afghanistan?

Afghanistan is party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna Convention — verified directly against the UN depositary status pages (1949: 103 parties/19 signatories; 1968: 91 parties/36 signatories; Afghanistan appears in neither list). No IDP therefore has treaty force in Afghanistan. Acceptance rests solely on Afghan domestic law: Article 32 of the Driving Licence Regulation (مقررۀ جواز رانندگی), made under Article 84 of the Road Traffic Law, provides that 'a foreign driver who holds an international driving permit has permission to drive until the expiry of the period stated in the permit' (راننده خارجی که دارای جواز رانندگی بین‌المللی باشد الی تکمیل میعاد مندرج جوازنامه، اجازه رانندگی را دارا می‌باشد). That wording is type-agnostic, so both the 1949 and 1968 booklets read on it; Afghanistan's own IDP chapter (Arts. 30, 33, 35) is however modelled on the 1968 Vienna instrument (148 x 105 mm booklet, French plus English/Russian/Spanish, three-year validity, express reference to the 1968 Vienna Road Traffic Convention). An IDP is not legally required, because Art. 31 separately admits the bare home national licence. Currency caveat: this is a legacy instrument reproduced in the 2008 USAID/AROLP 'Selected Laws of Afghanistan' compilation and it has not been shown to be in force or applied under the present authorities; the traffic authority's own website front end was not serving content on the date checked. Carry an IDP with the national licence and treat the entitlement as unconfirmed.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: carry your national licence together with the document named in the row for your country of issue, in the table below — for most non-exempt licences that is an IDP.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Official source.

What side of the road does Afghanistan drive on?

Afghanistan drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Cars in Afghanistan are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in Afghanistan with a foreign licence?

Under Art. 31(1) of the Driving Licence Regulation, a foreign driver may drive in Afghanistan on the national driving licence of their own country for up to one year ('راننده خارجی ... با جواز رانندگی ملی کشور خود الی مدت یک سال در افغانستان اجازه رانندگی را دارا می‌باشد'), a norm the article expressly frames as following the principles of the 1968 Vienna Road Traffic Convention even though Afghanistan never joined it. Under Art. 32, a driver holding an international driving permit may drive for the permit's own stated validity. Art. 31(2) adds that a foreign driver intending to stay more than one month must report to the traffic department within one week of arrival and register their date of entry. Currency unverified: this is legacy text whose present force under the current authorities could not be confirmed, and no current inbound guidance is published. (Driving Licence Regulation (made under Art. 84 of the Road Traffic Law), Arts. 31-32, in the AROLP/USAID Selected Laws of Afghanistan compilation hosted by the traffic authority)

Planning to move to Afghanistan? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is Afghanistan a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Afghanistan is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Afghanistan, and convention rules do not bind it — licence acceptance is governed purely by local law and bilateral arrangements.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in Afghanistan with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Afghanistan as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Afghanistan is party to neither the 1949 nor the 1968 Convention — confirmed directly against the UN depositary lists — so no IDP carries treaty force there. Recognition instead rests entirely on Afghanistan's own Driving Licence Regulation: Article 31 lets a foreign driver use their home country's national licence for up to one year, and Article 32 recognises an international driving permit for the permit's own validity. That text is a legacy instrument, the traffic authority's website is currently offline, and no current inbound guidance is published, so its present force cannot be confirmed. The honest answer is that Afghan law on its face permits driving on a foreign national licence or an IDP, but the entitlement is unconfirmed under the present authorities — carry an IDP alongside the national licence, register with the traffic department if staying over a month, and note that the FCDO advises against all travel around Afghanistan and calls road travel highly dangerous. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

What the Status column means on this page:

• No convention basis established for your licence — IDP advised — no road-traffic convention basis for your licence could be established at this destination, so this row settles neither that the licence alone is enough nor that anything must be carried with it; carrying an IDP is advised as a practical translation of your licence rather than as a legal entitlement. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be established.
• Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be confirmed.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] UN Treaty Collection, Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General — status of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-1) and of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-19) — XI-B-1, XI-B-19

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from Afghanistan? Afghanistan's IDPs are issued by Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoIA). Official site. Afghanistan is party to neither road-traffic convention, so the permit is issued outside the UN convention framework and is not an official convention IDP — check that your destination accepts it.
• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to Afghanistan? Rules for new residents

Residents should obtain an Afghan national licence through the Ministry of Interior and the General Directorate of Traffic. A test-waived exchange route does exist in the legacy regulation, contrary to the original dossier's finding, but its present operation is unconfirmed. Official source.

Driving rules in Afghanistan tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: No compulsory private-car equipment inventory was verified. At minimum, professional operators should supply seat belts, a first-aid kit, fire extinguisher, warning device, spare tyre or repair capability, water, communications and recovery equipment appropriate to the route.
• Drink-driving: Treat the limit as zero. Alcohol is prohibited in Afghanistan generally, and in traffic law specifically the official violation card annexed to the Driving Licence Regulation lists 'driving while intoxicated by alcoholic beverages or narcotics' (رانندگی در حالت نشه مشروبات الکهولی و مواد مخدره) as a Group 2 — that is, serious — violation. Do not possess, use or drive after alcohol. No numeric BAC threshold and no current traffic-specific penalty figure were located. Alcohol exposes a traveller to detention or other criminal consequences well beyond a traffic fine.
• Speed limits: No nationwide passenger-car speed limits were verified. The speed and braking tables in the reviewed law are vehicle-engineering standards (required braking distance and deceleration by vehicle class), not driver speed limits, and must not be published as such. Follow posted signs and traffic-police directions.
• Road travel is highly dangerous and the UK FCDO advises against all travel around Afghanistan. Verbatim: 'Road travel is highly dangerous. FCDO advises against all travel around Afghanistan.' The same page adds that the situation at Afghanistan's border crossings remains volatile, a number of borders remain closed, and open borders can close at short notice.
• Carry an IDP alongside the home national licence even though Afghan law does not require one. Art. 31 admits the bare national licence for up to a year, but the entitlement rests on a legacy instrument whose current force is unconfirmed and whose publishing authority's website is offline; an IDP is the cheapest way to make the Art. 32 route available as well.
• If staying more than one month, register with the traffic department within one week of arrival, as Art. 31(2) requires. There is no published requirement to obtain advance written approval from the General Directorate of Traffic before driving — no source establishes such a step.
• Do not rely on ambulances, roadside assistance or consular rescue. UK guidance states only very limited medical facilities are available, there is no guarantee local health practitioners will be available, and ambulances sent by hospitals may require payment or evidence of insurance before treating you. There is no British Embassy in Afghanistan and the UK government's ability to help is severely limited and cannot be delivered in person.

Read more about driving in Afghanistan

• 10 Interesting Facts About Afghanistan
• List of countries that accept Afghan driver’s licenses
• Best Places to Visit in Afganistan

Watch what driving in Afghanistan looks like

A few minutes of real POV footage is the fastest way to feel confident before your first drive in Afghanistan:

Open the video on YouTube if the player does not load.

Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. UN depositary status, 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic — 103 parties, 19 signatories; Afghanistan absent
3. UN depositary status, 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic — 91 parties, 36 signatories; Afghanistan absent
4. Afghan Ministry of Interior achievements report, Islamic Emirate era (year 1401) — records the General Directorate of Traffic distributing 116,430 national and international driving licences; evidences continued licensing operation, not inbound recognition
5. UK FCDO road and security risk guidance
6. UK FCDO ambulance and medical-access guidance — source of the Kabul 102 ambulance number
7. UK FCDO police emergency and assistance guidance — source of 119 police
8. Afghan Ministry of Interior 'obtaining a driving licence' service page — resolves but is a content-free stub (navigation and footer only, 'Copyright 2020'); establishes no rule
9. Relabelled. Not official traffic-authority material: a 16-page 2008 basic road-safety booklet by the Afghan Social Development Foundation (prepared by Manizha Naderi, financed by Cordaid, produced in Holland), implemented with the Kabul Ministry of Education and Kabul Traffic Superintendence; merely hosted on the traffic server
10. Afghan General Directorate of Traffic homepage — served no content on 29 July 2026; cannot support any 'current official page' citation
11. Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoIA) — authorized IDP issuer in Afghanistan
12. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
13. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic