International Driving Permit in Cape Verde

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

Driving in Cape Verde: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Cape Verde?

Under art. 121 n.º 1 b) to d) of Cape Verde's road code (Código da Estrada), a visitor may drive on a foreign licence that Cape Verde is bound by treaty to recognise, on a foreign licence from a state that gives Cabo Verdean licences the same validity, or on an IDP presented with the national licence it was issued on. A modern photocard licence from a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention is therefore enough on its own - no IDP is legally required. Carry a genuine 1968 IDP together with (never instead of) the original licence if your licence is paper-format, is not written in Latin characters, or if the rental company or insurer demands one. Mind the type: Cape Verde acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on 12 June 2018 and is not a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention, so the 1968 IDP is the only treaty-valid permit here. A 1949 IDP - the only kind issued in the United States of America, Japan, Canada, Australia and Ireland - has no treaty basis in Cape Verde, but the road code names no IDP edition: it accepts international driving permits presented with the national licence that gave rise to them ('Licenças internacionais de condução, desde que apresentadas com o título nacional que lhes deu origem', art. 121 n.º 1 d)). The code does not list the states whose licences it accepts on reciprocity, so for a licence from a state outside the 1968 Convention it is not established whether the licence alone is enough: carry an IDP with it, or check with the authorities before you travel.

• 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 the original national licence, plus an IDP where the licence is paper-format or not in Latin characters. Also carry your passport with the entry stamp - the 185-day limit counts your stay in Cape Verde, not the rental period - together with the rental contract, vehicle registration and insurance.

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 Cape Verde drive on?

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

How long can you drive in Cape Verde with a foreign licence?

A foreign licence accepted under the road code, or an IDP, may no longer be used once its holder has resided in Cape Verde for more than 185 days (Código da Estrada, art. 121 n.º 4). France Diplomatie says a French licence is recognised for 185 days from entry, and UK FCDO that a valid UK photocard licence can be used for up to 6 months. Never exceed your licence, immigration, rental or insurance validity. (Código da Estrada (Decreto-Legislativo n.º 4/2005, republished by Decreto-Legislativo n.º 1/2007), art. 121 n.º 4; France Diplomatie Cap-Vert - Informations utiles (updated 13 October 2026) and UK FCDO Cape Verde travel advice (updated 28 July 2026))

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

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

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

• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 12 Jun 2018.

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 Cape Verde with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Cape Verde as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Cape Verde acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on 12 June 2018 without reservations and is not a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention, so the 1968 IDP is the only treaty-valid permit type here. Its road code accepts a foreign licence Cape Verde is bound by treaty to recognise, a foreign licence from a state that gives Cabo Verdean licences the same validity, and an IDP of any edition presented with the national licence, until the holder has resided in Cape Verde for more than 185 days (Código da Estrada, art. 121). The code publishes no list of the states it treats as reciprocal and names no translation route, so carry an IDP with a licence from a state outside the 1968 Convention, or with a paper or non-Latin-script licence. If you settle, apply to the DGTR within six months of taking up residence to exchange a treaty or reciprocity licence for a Cabo Verdean one, without a driving test (art. 121 n.º 7). 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.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] Código da Estrada (Decreto-Legislativo n.º 4/2005, republished by Decreto-Legislativo n.º 1/2007), art. 121 n.º 1 b) to d) and n.º 4; Convention on Road Traffic (Vienna, 8 November 1968), Article 41 and Annex 6 - Cabo Verde acceded 12 June 2018 (UN Treaty Collection, Chapter XI-B-19)

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

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 Cape Verde? Cape Verde's official IDPs are issued by Instituto de Mobilidade e Transportes Terrestres (IMTT).
• 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 Cape Verde? Rules for new residents

Once you have resided in Cape Verde for more than 185 days you may no longer drive on a foreign licence or an IDP (Código da Estrada, art. 121 n.º 4). If you settle in Cape Verde holding a foreign licence recognised by treaty or by reciprocity, you must apply within six months of taking up residence to exchange it for a Cabo Verdean licence, which is granted without a driving test (art. 121 n.º 7); breaking either rule is fined 20,000 to 40,000 Cape Verdean escudos (art. 121 n.º 8). Exchanges are handled by the Direção Geral dos Transportes Rodoviários (DGTR), whose head office is in Cidadela, Praia. Official source.

Driving rules in Cape Verde tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Every car must carry a warning triangle and a vest, both retroreflective, and each missing item is fined 5,000 to 10,000 Cape Verdean escudos (Código da Estrada, art. 86 n.º 1 and 6); set the triangle at least 30 m behind a car stopped on the carriageway or shoulder, and wear the vest while repairing it there (art. 86 n.º 2 to 4). The driver and front-seat passengers of a car must wear seat belts, and motorcyclists and their passengers helmets (art. 82). Children under 12 or under 150 cm may not travel in the front seat unless the car has no rear seat or the child uses an approved restraint (art. 54). Before road travel on the islands check lights, tyres, brakes, spare wheel, water, fuel and a charged phone - there is no roadside-assistance service to call.
• Drink-driving: Driving with 0.5 g/l or more of alcohol in the blood is prohibited: at that level a driver counts as under the influence (Lei n.º 8/V/96, art. 1, as amended by Lei n.º 51/IX/2019). The road code leaves alcohol to special legislation (Código da Estrada, art. 80). Zero is safest. Driving at 0.5 g/l or more but below 1.2 g/l is a very serious administrative offence fined 25,000 to 250,000 Cape Verdean escudos (Lei n.º 8/V/96, art. 9.º-A n.º 1, as amended by Lei n.º 51/IX/2019); the administrative procedure covers only levels below 1.2 g/l (art. 20 n.º 2). The penalty at 1.2 g/l or more is not established: the text of Lei n.º 8/V/96 in force since its 2010 amendment (Lei n.º 59/VII/2010) could not be read, so check it with the authorities before you travel. French government advice describes drink-driving as a criminal offence.
• Speed limits: For cars without a trailer the road code sets 50 km/h in built-up areas, 120 km/h on motorways, 100 km/h on roads reserved for cars and motorcycles and 90 km/h on other roads; with a trailer, 50, 100, 80 and 70 km/h (Código da Estrada, art. 27 n.º 1). Exceeding them is fined 10,000 to 20,000 Cape Verdean escudos (art. 27 n.º 2), and on motorways you may not drive below 40 km/h (art. 27 n.º 4). Obey posted limits, which can differ (art. 28), and reduce speed substantially for mountain roads, villages, cobbled surfaces, livestock and rain.
• Carry the original national licence, plus an IDP where the licence is paper-format or not in Latin characters. Also carry your passport with the entry stamp - the 185-day limit counts your stay in Cape Verde, not the rental period - together with the rental contract, vehicle registration and insurance.
• Drive on the right. France Diplomatie: 'Les routes principales sont asphaltées ou pavées, et dans un bon état relatif' - main roads are asphalted or cobbled and in relatively good condition. Rural areas, however, are dominated by dirt tracks that become problematic during the August-to-October rainy season, when a four-wheel-drive vehicle is needed. Expect steep mountain roads on the larger islands.
• France Diplomatie: 'Il n'existe pas de secours routiers d'urgence' - there is no emergency roadside-assistance service in Cape Verde. After a collision involving injury or property damage, call the police immediately and do not move the vehicles before they arrive unless safety requires it.

Read more about driving in Cape Verde

• 10 Interesting Facts About Cape Verde
• Best Places to Visit in Cabo Verde

Watch what driving in Cape Verde looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Código da Estrada (Decreto-Legislativo n.º 4/2005, republished by Decreto-Legislativo n.º 1/2007), art. 121 n.º 4; France Diplomatie Cap-Vert - Informations utiles (updated 13 October 2026) and UK FCDO Cape Verde travel advice (updated 28 July 2026)
3. UN Treaty Collection MTDSG XI-B-19, Convention on Road Traffic (Vienna, 8 Nov 1968) - participant table shows 'Cabo Verde ... 12 Jun 2018 a'; 91 parties; no Cabo Verde declaration or reservation listed
4. UN Treaty Collection MTDSG XI-B-1, Convention on Road Traffic (Geneva, 19 Sep 1949) - 103 parties; Cabo Verde / Cape Verde absent from the participant table (list runs Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic)
5. France Diplomatie, Cap-Vert - Informations utiles, updated 13 October 2026 (185-day recognition, DGTR exchange, road conditions, no roadside assistance, drink-driving is an offence)
6. UK FCDO Cape Verde - emergency service numbers (ambulance 130, fire 131, police 132)
7. Cabo Verde government transport services portal - live, but carries only a 'Certificado de autenticidade da carta de condução' service for Cabo Verdean licence holders; it publishes no foreign-licence recognition rule, penalty schedule or highway-code text
8. Boletim Oficial I Série n.º 40, 8 April 2019 - Lei n.º 51/IX/2019, whose art. 45 amends Lei n.º 8/V/96 on driving under the influence of alcohol: 0.5 g/l limit, and fines of 25,000 to 250,000 Cape Verdean escudos below 1.2 g/l
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic