International Driving Permit in Bolivia

🗓 We could not independently verify the road-traffic law for Bolivia; 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 Bolivia: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Bolivia?
• What side of the road does Bolivia drive on?
• How long can you drive in Bolivia with a foreign licence?
• Is Bolivia a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Bolivia with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Bolivia? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Bolivia tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Bolivia
• Sources

Driving in Bolivia: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Bolivia?

Bolivia is party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna road-traffic Convention — it is absent from both UN Treaty Collection status lists, and the WHO 2023 road-safety profile independently records 'Adherence to one or more of the 7 UN road safety conventions: 0'. Recognition of foreign driving documents is therefore purely a matter of Bolivian domestic law. The Código de Tránsito (DL 10135 of 1973) Article 119 provides that the international driving permit is issued by the Automóvil Club Boliviano or its branches, and that foreign permits are admitted in Bolivia on identification of the holder — an IDP-centred rule with no treaty condition and no stated time limit. The Lexivox consolidated text does not mark Article 119 as derogado/abrogado. Current UK FCDO travel advice states: 'You'll need to have both a 1949 international driving permit (IDP) and your UK driving licence with you in the car to drive in Bolivia.' Practical reading: carry a 1949-format IDP together with the original national licence. No Bolivian provision was located that makes an IDP a hard statutory requirement with a stated penalty, and none was located that expressly recognises a bare foreign national licence on its own — which is why the IDP is the safer document rather than an optional extra. Visitors from countries whose authorities issue only 1968-format IDPs should carry that document plus the national licence; Bolivian law refers generically to 'permisos extranjeros' and does not distinguish convention vintages.

• 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 the original national licence and a 1949-format International Driving Permit, plus passport with entry stamp, rental contract, vehicle registration and insurance. UK FCDO: 'You'll need to have both a 1949 international driving permit (IDP) and your UK driving licence with you in the car to drive in Bolivia.' Note that the DVLA's own IDP country table does not list Bolivia at all (Bolivia is not a convention party), so the IDP works here as a domestically-admitted foreign permit under Código Article 119, not as a treaty entitlement.

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

What side of the road does Bolivia drive on?

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

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

No statutory driving clock for visitors was verified. Código de Tránsito Article 119 admits foreign permits on identification of the holder without stating any period, so the practical ceiling is the authorised stay rather than a driving-specific limit. UK FCDO records for Bolivia: 'You can visit Bolivia for up to 90 days without a visa. Border officials issue 30-day stamps, but you can stay for 90 days without any new stamp. As a tourist, you get 90 days of visa-free travel in a one-year period.' Treat 90 days per year as the working outer limit for driving as a visitor, and move to a Bolivian licence through SEGIP for anything longer or for residence. (Código de Tránsito Article 119 (no period stated); UK FCDO Bolivia entry requirements)

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

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

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

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Bolivia as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Bolivia belongs to neither UN road-traffic convention — the WHO 2023 profile scores its adherence to the seven UN road-safety conventions at zero. Recognition rests entirely on domestic law: Código de Tránsito Article 119 admits foreign driving permits on identification of the holder, with no treaty condition, no approved-country list and no stated time limit. In practice that means: bring your national licence and a 1949-format International Driving Permit, as the UK FCDO expressly advises. Nothing verified here supports refusing any particular nationality, and nothing verified here supports driving on a national licence alone. Because the underlying texts are old and partly displaced by Ley 145 of 2011, penalties and periods are left as open questions rather than guessed. 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 Bolivia? Bolivia's IDPs are issued by Automovil Club Boliviano (ACB). Official site. Bolivia 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 Bolivia? Rules for new residents

Residents should obtain a Bolivian licence through SEGIP (Servicio General de Identificación Personal, which since Ley 145 of 27 June 2011 also runs the driving-licence service) rather than rely on the visitor route. Official law publisher.

Driving rules in Bolivia tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Reglamento del Código de Tránsito Article 39 requires vehicles making journeys to carry a first-aid kit (botiquín), spare wheel, essential tools, danger signals (red warning lamps or reflective triangles), a fire extinguisher, and wheel chocks for four-wheel vehicles. This is a summary of the article's list rather than a verbatim quotation.
• Drink-driving: WHO records a BAC limit of 0.05 g/dl for both the general population and young or novice drivers, with random breath testing carried out and all drivers tested after a fatal crash. No reliable current single fine figure was verified. Do not drink before driving.
• Speed limits: WHO records national maxima of 40 km/h urban and 80 km/h on rural roads and motorways. Local authorities may modify limits, so posted signs govern.
• Carry the original national licence and a 1949-format International Driving Permit, plus passport with entry stamp, rental contract, vehicle registration and insurance. UK FCDO: 'You'll need to have both a 1949 international driving permit (IDP) and your UK driving licence with you in the car to drive in Bolivia.' Note that the DVLA's own IDP country table does not list Bolivia at all (Bolivia is not a convention party), so the IDP works here as a domestically-admitted foreign permit under Código Article 119, not as a treaty entitlement.
• Traffic keeps to the right. WHO records national maxima of 40 km/h urban and 80 km/h on both rural roads and motorways, and confirms 'Local authorities can modify limits: Yes'.
• UK FCDO on road conditions (verbatim extracts): 'Road travel can be dangerous due to poor road conditions and low driving standards.' 'Some of Bolivia's main highways are paved but most roads are unpaved rough tracks.' In the November-March rainy season 'there is a risk of landslides and roads can be blocked', and 'Four-wheel drive vehicles are often needed'. 'Broken-down vehicles with no warning lights are a frequent hazard on roads at night'.
• Fuel supply is a live planning risk: UK FCDO records 'There are regular petrol and diesel shortages across the country', which can strand travellers by car for several days while waiting for deliveries. Plan fuel stops and carry reserves on long rural legs.
• High altitude (much of the road network sits above 3,500 m), steep unguarded mountain roads, long distances between services and periodic road blockades make self-driving demanding. Check route conditions before departure and avoid night driving on unfamiliar rural roads.

Read more about driving in Bolivia

• The World’s Most Scenic Routes: A Road Trip Guide to Breathtaking Highways
• 10 Interesting Facts About Bolivia
• Best Places to Visit in Bolivia

Watch what driving in Bolivia looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Código de Tránsito Article 119 (no period stated); UK FCDO Bolivia entry requirements
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Reglamento del Código de Tránsito (RS 187444, 8 Jun 1978) — Articles 39, 199, 200, 213
5. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic status list (Bolivia absent)
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic status list (Bolivia absent)
7. WHO Global status report on road safety 2023 — Bolivia profile (speeds, BAC, 0/7 UN conventions)
8. UK FCDO Bolivia travel advice — 1949 IDP plus national licence, road and fuel risks
9. SEGIP — Bolivian identity and driving-licence authority (site not reachable on the date checked; listed for the reader, not relied on)
10. Automovil Club Boliviano (ACB) — authorized IDP issuer in Bolivia
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
12. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic