International Driving Permit in Aruba

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

Driving in Aruba: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Aruba?

An IDP is not a legal requirement: Aruba's Road Traffic Ordinance (Landsverordening wegverkeer, art. 10(2)) lets a driver who is not resident in Aruba drive on a valid licence issued in the home country or on a valid international driving permit, from the age of 18, so the IDP is an alternative to the home licence, not an addition to it. Two governments state the plain national licence is accepted: the Netherlands (like Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) says 'Uw Nederlandse rijbewijs is geldig op Aruba' ('Your Dutch driving licence is valid in Aruba'), and Canada says 'Canadian driver's licenses are accepted' while adding only 'You should carry an international driving permit.' UK travel advice does say to carry an IDP, but the UK's own official IDP country table does not list Aruba at all and tells travellers to ask the embassy in that case; that is the UK's advice to its travellers, not a provision of Aruban law. The ordinance does not say which international driving permit it means: only the 1949 Geneva Convention extends to Aruba, so a 1949-type IDP has a treaty basis there, but whether a 1968-type IDP counts is not established — check with the authorities before you rely on one. Rental companies frequently require an IDP contractually regardless.

• 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 origin licences that document is not an IDP, so read your own answer rather than assuming one.
• Car renters: Carry your original national licence in the car, together with passport, vehicle registration, and rental and insurance papers. The law requires a driver who is not resident in Aruba to carry the home licence or a valid IDP (Road Traffic Ordinance, art. 10(2)); an IDP in addition to the licence is not required, but hire companies commonly demand one.

Driving without the required document is punishable under Landsverordening wegverkeer, art. 40(4) (breach of art. 10(2)) and Wetboek van Strafrecht van Aruba, art. 1:54(4) with a fine of up to Afl. 25,000.

What side of the road does Aruba drive on?

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

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

The Road Traffic Ordinance names no visitor period: its rule for foreign licences covers any driver who is not resident in Aruba (art. 10(2)). Such a driver must carry a valid licence issued in the home country or a valid International Driving Permit, and be at least 18; a driver who becomes resident needs an Aruban licence (art. 10(1)). (Landsverordening wegverkeer, AB 1997 no. 18, consolidated text of 16 September 2021, art. 10(1) and (2))

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

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

Aruba is a Contracting Party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, but not to the 1968 Vienna Convention.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: applies via Netherlands (territorial application).

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 Aruba with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Aruba as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Aruba is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands but sits outside the EU, so EU driving-licence mutual recognition does not apply as a legal basis. Aruba's Road Traffic Ordinance lets a driver who is not resident in Aruba drive on a valid licence issued in the home country or on a valid International Driving Permit (art. 10(2)); the Dutch government confirms a Netherlands licence is valid in Aruba, and Canada states Canadian licences are accepted while advising travellers to carry an International Driving Permit. An IDP is therefore an alternative to the home licence, not a legal requirement — though hire companies often insist on one contractually. The ordinance does not say which International Driving Permit it means. Only the 1949 Geneva type has a treaty footing in Aruba, because the Kingdom's 1968 Vienna accession is declared for the Kingdom in Europe only; whether a 1968-type permit counts is not established, so check in advance before relying on one. The ordinance names no visitor period: what counts is whether the driver is resident in Aruba. 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:

• National licence OK — the destination lets a visitor drive on the national licence itself. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis, and any period or condition that qualifies it.
• National licence OK — IDP advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, but carrying one is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.
• 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.
• National licence OK — IDD/translation advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, and no official convention IDP can be issued for it; carry an IDD or a certified translation instead. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] Landsverordening wegverkeer (AB 1997 no. 18), art. 10(2)

[a] Licence categories do not follow the convention A–E scheme — rental staff may ask for an IDP to map them.

[b] IDD = International Driver's Document, a standardized translation of your national driving licence. You can apply here: https://idaoffice.org/apply-now/.

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 Aruba? Aruba's official IDPs are issued by Bureau Rijbewijzen (BER), Korps Politie Aruba (Aruba Police Force). Official site.
• 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 Aruba? Rules for new residents

A driver resident in Aruba must carry a valid Aruban driving licence and be at least 18 (Road Traffic Ordinance, art. 10(1)); once you are resident, a foreign licence, a Dutch one included, or an IDP no longer suffices. The Aruban licence is issued by the Oficina di Censo / Registro Civil (Civil Registry), not by a public-works department. Official source.

Driving rules in Aruba tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: In a four-wheeled motor vehicle the driver and the front-seat passenger or passengers must wear seat belts (Traffic Rules Decree, Landsbesluit verkeersregels, art. 45(2)). Children under 12 may not ride in front of the driver or on the seat beside the driver (art. 44(3)); in the back they must wear a seat belt or sit in a child seat with a belt (art. 45(3)). The rider and passengers of a motorcycle, which includes a three-wheeler and a quad under 600 kg without a body, must wear a well-fitting helmet fastened with a chin strap (art. 47(1)).
• Drink-driving: The limit is 220 micrograms of alcohol per litre of exhaled breath or half a milligram per millilitre of blood (0.5 g/l): driving above either is an offence (Road Traffic Ordinance, art. 5(2)). Drive with zero alcohol. Up to two years in prison or a fine of the fourth category (Road Traffic Ordinance, art. 40(4)), which the Public Prosecutor's Office gives as at most Afl. 25,000 (Aruban florins). Its enforcement guideline 7937/2021 sets ten bands: at 220 to 350 micrograms per litre of breath, or 0.50 g/l to 0.80 g/l of blood, the prosecutor offers to settle for Afl. 350, or demands Afl. 400 in court. Settlement is offered only in the three lowest bands; from the fifth band a driving ban is added, and the top two bands add a prison sentence. Refusing a breath test is treated as the eighth band.
• Speed limits: 50 km/h in built-up areas and 80 km/h outside them; where a sign shows another limit, the sign applies (Landsbesluit verkeersregels, art. 31). Drive on the right.
• Carry your original national licence in the car, together with passport, vehicle registration, and rental and insurance papers. The law requires a driver who is not resident in Aruba to carry the home licence or a valid IDP (Road Traffic Ordinance, art. 10(2)); an IDP in addition to the licence is not required, but hire companies commonly demand one.
• Turning right on a red light is prohibited.
• Main roads are generally in good condition, but many drivers do not respect traffic laws, and loose animals on the road are a hazard. Drive on the right.
• After a crash in which, as you know or should suspect, someone was killed or injured or damage was done to someone else, no one involved may leave the scene until a police officer or an official designated by the Minister of Justice arrives (Road Traffic Ordinance, art. 4(2)). The Traffic Rules Decree has no priority rule of its own for roundabouts — it deals only with lane use on them (art. 18(4)) — so give way as the signs at each roundabout show.

Read more about driving in Aruba

• Best Places to Visit in Aruba

Watch what driving in Aruba looks like

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Sources

1. Landsverordening wegverkeer, art. 40(4) (breach of art. 10(2)) and Wetboek van Strafrecht van Aruba, art. 1:54(4)
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. UK official IDP country table — does not list Aruba, and directs travellers to the embassy for unlisted countries
4. Government of Canada Aruba travel advice — 'Canadian driver's licenses are accepted', 'You should carry an international driving permit', no right on red, emergency numbers
5. Netherlands government travel advice for Aruba — 'Uw Nederlandse rijbewijs is geldig op Aruba'
6. UK FCDO Aruba emergency numbers — 911 ambulance/fire, 100 police, 913 coastguard
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: Netherlands ratified 19 Sep 1952; territorial application to Netherlands Antilles notified 9 May 1957, 'Excluding annexes 1 and 2'
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: Netherlands accession 8 Nov 2007 declared 'For the Kingdom in Europe' (excludes Aruba)
9. Landsverordening wegverkeer (Road Traffic Ordinance, AB 1997 no. 18), consolidated text of 16 September 2021 — art. 4 (leaving the scene of a crash), art. 5 (alcohol limits), art. 10 (licences for residents and non-residents), art. 40 (penalties)
10. Landsbesluit verkeersregels (Traffic Rules Decree, AB 1999 no. 39), consolidated text of 4 November 2013 — speed limits (art. 31), children, seat belts and helmets (arts. 44, 45 and 47), roundabout lanes (art. 18)
11. Public Prosecutor's Office of Aruba, Richtlijn verkeershandhaving 7937/2021 (traffic enforcement guideline, in force 11 February 2021) — maximum penalties and settlement amounts, including the alcohol bands
12. Wetboek van Strafrecht van Aruba (Criminal Code, AB 2012 no. 24), consolidated text of 1 November 2023 — art. 1:54 (fine categories; the fourth is Afl. 25,000)
13. Government of Aruba — reporting to the police: the Central Police Post on 100 for urgent cases, district stations on 102, 104, 105 and 107
14. Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard — emergency numbers for Aruba: coastguard 913, police 100, fire 911, ambulance 911
15. Bureau Rijbewijzen (BER), Korps Politie Aruba (Aruba Police Force) — authorized IDP issuer in Aruba
16. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
17. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic