International Driving Permit in Aruba

🗓 We could not independently verify the road-traffic law for Aruba; 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 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 strongly advised but was not shown to be a legal requirement for visitors. Two governments state the plain national licence is accepted: the Netherlands (sovereign of the same Kingdom) 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 — so the UK page is boilerplate, not an Aruban legal norm. Where an IDP is used, only the 1949 Geneva type has a treaty basis in Aruba. Rental companies frequently require one 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 non-exempt licences that is an IDP.
• Car renters: Carry your original national licence in the car, together with passport, vehicle registration, and rental and insurance papers. Carry an IDP too if you have one — it is not established as legally required, but hire companies commonly demand it.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Foreign-government travel advice.

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?

No fixed visitor-day cap for driving on a foreign licence could be verified in Aruban law or in any government source. Treat the entitlement as running with lawful visitor status and the validity of the licence itself. (UK FCDO Aruba travel advice and Government of Canada Aruba travel advice both describe driving requirements without stating any day limit; no Aruban primary text located.)

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. In practice visitors drive on their own national licence: 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 strongly recommended rather than legally established as compulsory — and hire companies often insist on one contractually. Where an IDP is used, only the 1949 Geneva type has a treaty footing in Aruba: the Kingdom's 1968 Vienna accession is declared for the Kingdom in Europe only. Aruba's own road-traffic ordinance could not be retrieved online, so the day-limit and several detailed rules below are flagged as unconfirmed. 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:

• 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.
• Treaty recognises licence — IDP advised — the 1949 Geneva Convention obliges this destination to recognise your national licence, and separately allows a destination to require a 1949-type IDP; this row states the treaty position and does not settle which of the two this destination chose, so carrying an IDP is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis.
• 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] Netherlands government travel advice for Aruba (nederlandwereldwijd.nl) — Uw Nederlandse rijbewijs is geldig op Aruba

[2] 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 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 resident should obtain an Aruban driving licence rather than rely on visitor documents. 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: Seat belt and motorcycle helmet use, and child-seat rules, are widely reported but were not verifiable against a retrievable government source on 29 July 2026. Assume seat belts and helmets are mandatory and use a child restraint.
• Drink-driving: No numeric BAC limit could be verified in Aruban law. UK FCDO describes the threshold as being exceeded at just over half England's legal limit (England is 80 mg/100 ml blood), which implies roughly 0.05% / 0.5 g per litre — an inference, not a cited figure. Drive with zero alcohol. A fine and possible imprisonment (UK FCDO). No tariff figures verified.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right and obey posted limits. No official Aruban speed schedule (urban / rural / highway figures) could be verified — do not quote numbers.
• Carry your original national licence in the car, together with passport, vehicle registration, and rental and insurance papers. Carry an IDP too if you have one — it is not established as legally required, but hire companies commonly demand it.
• 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.
• Commonly reported but not verified on 29 July 2026: yield to traffic already in a roundabout; seat belts compulsory; motorcycle helmets compulsory; children ride in the rear with a child seat under a stated age; after a crash do not move the vehicle and call police first. Treat these as sensible practice, not as cited law — the US State Department page they were attributed to could not be retrieved.

Read more about driving in Aruba

• Best Places to Visit in Aruba

Watch what driving in Aruba looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
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. Bureau Rijbewijzen (BER), Korps Politie Aruba (Aruba Police Force) — authorized IDP issuer in Aruba
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic