International Driving Permit in Antigua and Barbuda

🗓 Facts checked against Antigua and Barbuda's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 30 October 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 Antigua and Barbuda: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Antigua and Barbuda?
• What side of the road does Antigua and Barbuda drive on?
• How long can you drive in Antigua and Barbuda with a foreign licence?
• Is Antigua and Barbuda a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Antigua and Barbuda with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Antigua and Barbuda? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Antigua and Barbuda tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Antigua and Barbuda
• Sources

Driving in Antigua and Barbuda: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Antigua and Barbuda?

An IDP has no legal standing in Antigua and Barbuda. Per the UN Treaty Collection participant lists, the country is a party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Canadian government guidance states verbatim: "The International Driving Permit is not recognized in Antigua and Barbuda. You must bring your Canadian driver's licence to purchase a temporary local driver's licence." Apart from a licence issued by a member territory of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), whose standing for a visitor is not established, the entitlement to drive is the local temporary visitor's driver's licence granted under Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap. 460 s.40; car-rental companies authorised under s.40(2) commonly issue it on the Licensing Officer's behalf.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: your national licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here on their own — for almost every origin, driving requires a document the destination itself issues. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, names it; check with the destination’s authorities whether a visitor can obtain one before you travel.
• Car renters: Before driving, obtain the local temporary visitor's driver's licence, unless the Transport Board confirms that your OECS licence is accepted. The Royal Police Force asks for your original valid driver's licence, a fee of EC$50 or US$20 and a local address; apply to the Transport Board, a police station, or an authorised car-rental company. Section 40(2) expressly lets the Licensing Officer authorise self-drive-hire vehicle owners to hand the licence over on his behalf, which is why rental desks can issue it.

Driving without the required document is punishable under Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Cap. 460, s.29A (inserted by Act No. 13 of 2012) with a fine of EC$5,000 and imprisonment for two years.

What side of the road does Antigua and Barbuda drive on?

Antigua and Barbuda drives on the left-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the right. Left-hand traffic, but many imported cars are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in Antigua and Barbuda with a foreign licence?

Only for the period printed on the local temporary visitor's driver's licence — by statute a maximum of three months (Cap. 460 s.40) — and only while the home licence, immigration stay and insurance remain valid. Cap. 460 gives a foreign licence alone no visitor grace period. The Transport Board Regulations, reg. 11(6), treat a licence issued by an OECS member territory to an OECS citizen as a local licence, and whether a visitor may drive on it, and for how long, is not established. (Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap. 460, s.40(1))

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

Is Antigua and Barbuda a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Antigua and Barbuda is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Antigua and Barbuda, 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 Antigua and Barbuda with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Antigua and Barbuda as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Antigua and Barbuda is party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna road-traffic convention, so an International Driving Permit carries no legal weight there — Canadian government guidance says outright that it is not recognised. A visitor needs a local temporary visitor's driver's licence, granted for up to three months under Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap. 460 s.40 and the Transport Board Regulations, reg. 23, and issued by the Transport Board, a police station, or an authorised car-rental company; neither your home licence nor an IDP authorises driving on its own. The Royal Police Force asks for your original valid driver's licence, a fee of EC$50 or US$20 and a local address. The Transport Board Regulations make an exception for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS): under reg. 11(6), a driver's licence issued by an OECS member territory to an OECS citizen is treated as a licence issued under those Regulations and is to be entered in the Board's register. The Royal Police Force says instead that residents of OECS Member States 'may not be required' to obtain a temporary licence when visiting, but need one if they plan to reside. Neither text says which territories count or whether the licence must be registered before you drive, so if you hold an OECS licence or live in an OECS state, check with the Transport Board before you travel. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: October 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:

• Locally issued document required — a foreign licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here; the destination issues its own document and you must obtain it before you drive. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what it is and how to get it.
• 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] Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap. 460, ss.30, 40 and 75; Transport Board Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1999 No. 19), regs. 11(6) and 23 — Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap. 460 ss.30 and 40; Antigua and Barbuda is party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna road-traffic convention, and no order has been made under s.75 giving effect to any such convention

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 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 Antigua and Barbuda? Rules for new residents

The three-month visitor's temporary licence under s.40 is expressly for a "bona fide visitor" and is not a driving licence for residents. Anyone settling in Antigua and Barbuda must obtain a full local driver's licence, except that the Transport Board Regulations treat a licence issued by an OECS member territory to an OECS citizen as a local licence (reg. 11(6)), renewable where it was issued or under reg. 13 when it expires (reg. 11(7)). The Royal Police Force says instead that OECS residents who plan to reside need a temporary licence, as visitors do: check with the Transport Board before you move. Official source.

Driving rules in Antigua and Barbuda tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: The Vehicles and Road Traffic (Seat Belt) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998 No. 21, made under Cap. 460 s.87, in force from 1 September 1998) require the driver and any front-seat passenger to wear a seat belt (reg. 3). A driver may not, without reasonable excuse, drive on a road with a child under fourteen in a rear seat fitted with seat belts unless the child wears a seat belt or child restraint (reg. 4); reg. 9(2) lists what counts, among them a child restraint suited to the child's weight, or from the age of one an adult seat belt, used with a booster cushion until the age of four. The Vehicles and Road Traffic (Motor Cycles Protective Headgear) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998 No. 40, in force from 4 January 1999) require anyone driving or riding a motor cycle, other than in a sidecar, to wear protective headgear (reg. 3), and anyone who rents out motor cycles to supply it (reg. 6). Breaking either set of Regulations carries a fine not exceeding EC$5,000 or imprisonment for up to twelve months, or both (Seat Belt Regulations, reg. 11; Headgear Regulations, reg. 8). Cap. 460 and its 2018 and 2025 Amendment Acts name no warning-triangle or spare-tyre requirement; confirm that equipment with the rental provider. Using a hand-held mobile device while driving is a specific offence under the 2018 Amendment's new s.56 (careless driving): first offence a fine of one thousand dollars (EC$) plus three months' disqualification; second and subsequent, twenty-five hundred dollars (EC$) plus one year's disqualification.
• Drink-driving: The limits of the Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018, 35 µg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath and 80 mg in 100 ml of blood (s.54F), are not shown in force: no commencement notice for its s.4 was found. The only notice found, S.I. 2019 No. 2, brings sections 1, 2, 3 and 5 to 8 of that Act into force on 1 February 2019, citing it as 'No. 10 of 2018'. Section 4 also provides for roadside breath tests, evidential breath analysis and blood tests (ss.54A to 54E). The consolidated Act's s.54, which s.4 would replace, makes it an offence to drive, attempt to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle on a road while 'under the influence of drink or drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle'. Check with the Royal Police Force which rule applies before you travel. Which penalties apply is not established, because s.4 of the 2018 Amendment Act, which replaces s.54 and inserts ss.54A to 54F, is not shown in force. Under the consolidated Act's s.54, driving, attempting to drive or being in charge while under the influence of drink or drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle carries a penalty of five thousand dollars (EC$) and imprisonment for eighteen months for a first offence, and ten thousand dollars (EC$) and three years for a second or later one, with disqualification for twelve months, and permanently on a second conviction. Under s.4, if it is in force, the new s.54 covers driving, attempting to drive or being in charge while under the influence, or found over the prescribed limit by a mandatory test: first offence a penalty not exceeding ten thousand dollars (EC$) or imprisonment for up to three years; second and every subsequent offence not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars (EC$) or up to five years. Two consecutive convictions would bring a three-year disqualification and a third conviction permanent disqualification, and failing or refusing to provide a breath or blood specimen without reasonable excuse would itself be an offence carrying up to EC$10,000 or three years (EC$15,000 or five years on repeat).
• Speed limits: Second Schedule to Cap. 460 (s.53): within the limits of the City of Saint John's or any speed-limit area — 20 mph for cars and other motor vehicles, 15 mph for motor omnibuses, motor lorries and tractors. On all other roads in Antigua and Barbuda — 40 mph for cars and other motor vehicles, 25 mph for motor omnibuses and motor lorries, 20 mph for tractors. Posted signs govern where lower, and road condition often makes the legal maximum far too fast.
• Before driving, obtain the local temporary visitor's driver's licence, unless the Transport Board confirms that your OECS licence is accepted. The Royal Police Force asks for your original valid driver's licence, a fee of EC$50 or US$20 and a local address; apply to the Transport Board, a police station, or an authorised car-rental company. Section 40(2) expressly lets the Licensing Officer authorise self-drive-hire vehicle owners to hand the licence over on his behalf, which is why rental desks can issue it.
• UK government guidance states verbatim: "You will need a temporary local driving licence to drive in Antigua and Barbuda." Your home licence is what you use to obtain it.
• Traffic keeps left. UK guidance warns "Roads can have potholes and unmarked speed bumps", rural roads are "narrow and can have blind corners", and "some roads are unlit". Canadian guidance adds that Antigua's main roads are reasonably maintained while Barbuda has few paved roads, and that "Drivers often stop in the middle of the road without warning".
• UK guidance: "Do not stop if pedestrians flag you down. Keep car doors locked when driving".
• After a collision, UK guidance says verbatim: "If you have an accident, call the police and do not move the vehicle".

Read more about driving in Antigua and Barbuda

• 10 Interesting Facts About Antigua and Barbuda
• Best Places to Visit in Antigua and Barbuda

Watch what driving in Antigua and Barbuda looks like

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Sources

1. Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Cap. 460, s.29A (inserted by Act No. 13 of 2012)
2. Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Cap. 460, s.40(1)
3. Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018, No. 18 of 2018 — drink-driving limits (35 µg/100 ml breath, 80 mg/100 ml blood), ss.54-54F, mobile-device offence
4. Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2025, No. 1 of 2025 — the General Manager of the Transport Board takes the place of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue in listed sections, not including s.40 (the visitor's temporary licence); First Schedule replaced
5. UK FCDO travel advice — "You will need a temporary local driving licence to drive in Antigua and Barbuda."
6. Government of Canada travel advice — "The International Driving Permit is not recognized in Antigua and Barbuda."
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic participant list (Antigua and Barbuda absent)
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic participant list (Antigua and Barbuda absent)
9. Transport Board (Amendment) Regulations 2013, S.I. 2013 No. 47 — new reg. 11(6) and (7): driver's licences issued by OECS member territories to OECS citizens
10. Transport Board Regulations 1998, S.I. 1999 No. 19 — reg. 13 (minimum ages), reg. 23 (visitor's temporary driver's licence) and the Schedule of fees
11. Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda — Licenses: the visitor's temporary driver's licence and the note on residents of OECS Member States
12. Notice by the Minister, S.I. 2019 No. 2 — sections 1, 2, 3 and 5 to 8 of the Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018 in force from 1 February 2019
13. Vehicles and Road Traffic (Seat Belt) Regulations 1998, S.I. 1998 No. 21 — regs. 3, 4, 9 and 11: seat belts for drivers, front passengers and children
14. Vehicles and Road Traffic (Motor Cycles Protective Headgear) Regulations 1998, S.I. 1998 No. 40 — regs. 3, 6 and 8: motor-cycle helmets
15. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
16. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic