International Driving Permit in Brunei

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

Driving in Brunei: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Brunei?

Brunei acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention on 12 March 2020 and is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention, so only a 1949-format IDP has legal standing. The operative national norm is the Road Traffic (International Circulation) Regulations (Cap. 68, Rg 3) reg. 20(1): it is lawful for a person 'resident abroad and intending to make only a temporary stay in Brunei Darussalam, who holds an International Driving Permit OR a Domestic Driving Permit' to drive without a Brunei licence. A 'Domestic Driving Permit' is defined in reg. 2 as a licence issued under the law of a country that is a party to the 1949 Convention. So an IDP is not strictly required if your own national licence comes from a 1949 Convention country - that licence alone satisfies reg. 20(1). An IDP is effectively required if your licence is from a country that is not a 1949 party, because then you hold neither a Domestic Driving Permit nor a Convention-valid IDP, and reg. 20(1) does not cover you. Practical advice: carry a 1949 IDP anyway. Land Transport Department (JPD) public guidance is written around 'international driving licences', car-hire firms and police at roadside routinely expect one, and it removes any argument about whether your origin country qualifies.

• 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 at all times. Add a 1949-format IDP: mandatory in substance if your licence is not from a 1949 Convention country, and strongly advised even if it is. Also carry passport and immigration pass, the rental agreement, and vehicle licence and insurance evidence.

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

What side of the road does Brunei drive on?

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

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

Brunei law itself sets no fixed number of days for the visiting driver: reg. 20(1) authorises driving for anyone 'resident abroad and intending to make only a temporary stay', with no expressed limit. The two numeric figures come from JPD administrative pages and conflict with each other: the JPD driving-regulations page states 'Brunei recognises valid international driving licences and valid licences issued in other countries for a period of three months', after which drivers 'have to convert to Brunei licences'; the JPD driving-licence service page states that foreigners holding a foreign private-vehicle licence issued by a 1949 Geneva Convention country may drive 'for not more than a year'. Operative advice: plan on three months. Treat any period beyond three months as requiring written JPD confirmation or conversion. (JPD 'Brunei Driving Regulations' page (three months) vs JPD 'Driving Licenses' service page (one year, 1949-party private licences); Road Traffic (International Circulation) Regulations reg. 20(1) sets no numeric limit)

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

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

Brunei 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: accession on 12 Mar 2020.

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 Brunei with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Brunei as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Brunei is a 1949 Geneva Convention party only (acceded 12 March 2020) and not a 1968 Vienna party, so only a 1949-format IDP has legal standing. Under reg. 20(1) of the Road Traffic (International Circulation) Regulations, a visitor 'resident abroad' making 'only a temporary stay' may drive on an International Driving Permit or on a national licence issued by a 1949 Convention country - the IDP is not strictly compulsory for those origins, but is strongly advised and is effectively required if your licence comes from a non-1949 country. JPD guidance conflicts between three months and one year; plan on three months and convert or get written confirmation for anything longer. Traffic keeps left; minimum age 18. 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:

• 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] 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 Brunei? Brunei's official IDPs are issued by Land Transport Department (JPD), Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications. 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 Brunei? Rules for new residents

Two different clocks. The visitor clock (reg. 20(1), 'temporary stay'; JPD says three months, or up to one year for 1949-party private licences) is not the residence clock. JPD's driving-licence service page frames conversion around residence: 'Foreigners who wish to reside in Brunei Darussalam longer than 1 year or foreigners holding a foreign driving licence for commercial or public service vehicles can apply for a Brunei driving licence.' Anyone taking up employment or residence should convert rather than rely on the visitor rule, because reg. 20(1) only protects a person 'resident abroad'. Official source.

Driving rules in Brunei tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts and approved motorcycle helmets are required in practice, but the specific mandate was not located in the consolidated Road Traffic Act text reviewed - it sits in subsidiary Road Traffic Regulations not verified here. Child-restraint, warning-triangle and spare-equipment requirements were likewise not confirmed. Follow the rental company's briefing and standard left-hand-traffic practice.
• Drink-driving: Statutory prescribed limit (Road Traffic Act Cap. 68, interpretation section): '35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath' or '80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood' - i.e. 0.08% BAC. In practice treat it as zero: alcohol sale is prohibited in Brunei and enforcement is unforgiving. Road Traffic Act s. 26(1): driving under the influence, or over the prescribed limit, is 'liable on conviction to a fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for 2 years and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine of $20,000 and imprisonment for 4 years.' Disqualification is mandatory on a first conviction, not only on repeat offences: s. 26(2)(b) requires the court to disqualify 'for such period not being less than 3 years'.
• Speed limits: Road Traffic Act s. 24(1): exceeding the speed specified for the area is an offence 'liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $600 and not exceeding $2,000 and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine of not less than $600 and not exceeding $4,000 and imprisonment for 6 months', with mandatory disqualification of at least 3 months on a second conviction (s. 24(5)(b)). Default limit in a limit area is 50 km/h unless signed. (The BND 600-2,000 range is correct but comes from the statute, not a 'JPD published table').
• Carry the original national licence at all times. Add a 1949-format IDP: mandatory in substance if your licence is not from a 1949 Convention country, and strongly advised even if it is. Also carry passport and immigration pass, the rental agreement, and vehicle licence and insurance evidence.
• JPD's own pages conflict on the visitor period (three months vs one year). Get JPD or the rental provider to confirm in writing before relying on anything past three months; otherwise treat three months as the deadline.
• Bringing a foreign-registered vehicle in (rather than renting) is a separate permission: an International Circulation Permit under reg. 6, valid 'for such period not exceeding 90 days from the date upon which the motor vehicle ... was last brought into Brunei Darussalam from abroad' (reg. 13). This 90-day vehicle limit is distinct from the driver's authority and is a plausible origin of JPD's 'three months' figure.
• Traffic keeps left; the driver sits on the right. Default limit in a built-up 'limit area' is 50 km/h unless signed otherwise. Watch for heavy tropical rain, standing water and sharply reduced visibility.

Read more about driving in Brunei

• 10 Interesting Facts About Brunei
• Best Places to Visit in Brunei

Watch what driving in Brunei looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. JPD 'Brunei Driving Regulations' page (three months) vs JPD 'Driving Licenses' service page (one year, 1949-party private licences); Road Traffic (International Circulation) Regulations reg. 20(1) sets no numeric limit
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Road Traffic (International Circulation) Regulations, Cap. 68 Rg 3, Revised Edition 2022 (S 131/1979, amended S 193/1981) - regs. 2, 6, 13, 20
5. Road Traffic (Driving Licences) Regulations, Cap. 68 Rg 15, Revised Edition 2022 - reg. 9 (foreign-licence test exemption) and reg. 26 validity provisos
6. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Convention on Road Traffic: Brunei Darussalam accession 12 Mar 2020 (103 parties)
7. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: Brunei not a party (91 parties)
8. Brunei E-Government National Centre - emergency hotlines (991 / 993 / 995 / 998)
9. Land Transport Department (JPD), Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications — authorized IDP issuer in Brunei
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic