International Driving Permit in Caribbean Netherlands

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

Driving in Caribbean Netherlands: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Caribbean Netherlands?

The islands' own traffic ordinances recognise the 1949 Geneva IDP only. Bonaire art. 112(1) and Sint Eustatius art. 108(1) exempt a driver resident outside the island who uses 'een geldig internationaal rijbewijs ... ingevolge artikel 24 van het Verdrag van Geneve van de 19e september 1949'. There is no reference to the 1968 Vienna Convention anywhere in the current island law, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands' 1968 Vienna acceptances are recorded at the UN 'for the European part of the Netherlands'. An IDP is not separately required for holders of a national licence issued by a 1949 Geneva party, because art. 112(2)/108(2) equate such a national licence with an IDP. An IDP is never a stand-alone entitlement: the Sint Eustatius government-published guidance states that 'solely holding an international driving licence/permit (IDP), even when still valid, offers no legal entitlement to ride or drive any motor vehicle'.

• 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: If your licence is from a state that is party only to the 1968 Vienna Convention (and not to the 1949 Geneva Convention), the island ordinances give you no automatic recognition - a 1968 IDP is not the document art. 112(1)/108(1) names. Ask the gezaghebber about the three-month temporary permit under art. 113 (Bonaire) / art. 109 (Sint Eustatius) before you drive, and expect rental firms to be unaware of the distinction.

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

What side of the road does Caribbean Netherlands drive on?

Caribbean Netherlands drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba all drive on the right.

How long can you drive in Caribbean Netherlands with a foreign licence?

No separate tourist time limit is set by the island ordinances. A visitor resident outside the island may drive on a 1949 Geneva IDP, or on a national licence issued by a 1949 Geneva Convention party (which the law equates with an IDP), for as long as that document is valid. The widely quoted 'six months' is not a tourist clock: the Gezaghebbersbesluit buitenlandse rijbewijzen 2023 runs it 'voor een periode van zes maanden na inschrijving in de basisadministratie van Bonaire' - six months from registration in the population register. Sint Eustatius' 185 days likewise runs 'from the day of being registered as a resident at the Civil Registry's Office'. Separately, art. 113 (Bonaire) / art. 109 (Sint Eustatius) let the gezaghebber grant a temporarily-staying person aged 18+ a permit of at most three months on production of a valid foreign licence - the route for origins the 1949 Convention does not cover. (Wegenverkeersverordening Bonaire arts. 112-113; Gezaghebbersbesluit buitenlandse rijbewijzen 2023 point 2; Wegenverkeersverordening Sint Eustatius 2022 arts. 108-109; Sint Eustatius Theory Test Service Document p. 78)

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

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

Caribbean Netherlands 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 Caribbean Netherlands with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Caribbean Netherlands as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. The Caribbean Netherlands - Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba - are Dutch public bodies outside the EU, and their driving rules come from island ordinances, not from EU or European-Netherlands law. Recognition rests on a single instrument: the 1949 Geneva Convention. A licence from any Kingdom of the Netherlands country is treated as a local licence; a national licence from a 1949 Geneva party is treated as an international driving permit and needs nothing extra; anything outside that set has no automatic recognition and depends on a discretionary three-month permit from the island governor. The often-quoted 'six months on Bonaire' and '185 days on Sint Eustatius' are resident exchange deadlines that start at registration in the population register - they are not tourist allowances. Saba could not be verified and should be checked directly. 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] Wegenverkeersverordening Bonaire art. 112(3); Wegenverkeersverordening Sint Eustatius art. 108(3) — Licences issued elsewhere in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, and the other BES islands) get a stronger, separate status: Bonaire art. 112(3) / Sint Eustatius art. 108(3) equate them outright with a locally issued licence, with no time limit while valid.

[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 Caribbean Netherlands? We could not identify an authorized IDP issuer for Caribbean Netherlands, so an IDP may have to be obtained elsewhere — check with the licensing authority before you travel.
• 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 Caribbean Netherlands? Rules for new residents

Two different resident clocks, both starting at registration - not at arrival. Bonaire: a licence issued outside the Kingdom counts as an IDP for six months after registration in the basisadministratie, then must be exchanged. Sint Eustatius: a 185-day contiguous grace period from the day of registration at the Civil Registry, cut short if the foreign licence expires sooner, evidenced by a one-off 'Grace Period Permit'. Saba: unverified. Official source.

Driving rules in Caribbean Netherlands tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry the original national licence plus, where the licence text is not in Dutch, English or French, a 1949 Geneva IDP as translation; carry the passport (a licence alone is not accepted as ID), plus rental agreement, registration and insurance papers. Seat belts and child restraints apply.
• Drink-driving: Offence above 220 micrograms of alcohol per litre of exhaled air, or above 0.5 milligrams per millilitre of blood (0.5 g/l). Identical figures in Bonaire art. 28(2) and Sint Eustatius 2022 art. 25(2). Saba unverified - assume the same and drive at zero. Drink-driving is listed among the offences carrying up to three months' detention or a second-category fine (Bonaire art. 131(1) referencing art. 28; Sint Eustatius art. 127(1) referencing art. 25). Cash amount unverified.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right (Bonaire art. 35(1): 'Bestuurders zijn verplicht zoveel mogelijk rechts te houden'). Unless signed otherwise: 40 km/h inside built-up areas and 60 km/h outside (Bonaire arts. 57-58; the Sint Eustatius theory document states the same 40/60 defaults).
• An IDP is only a translation and carries no entitlement on its own - it must accompany the valid national licence. Sint Eustatius guidance is explicit: 'The underlying valid national driving licence is the only legal basis for issuing and using such a document'.
• If your licence is from a state that is party only to the 1968 Vienna Convention (and not to the 1949 Geneva Convention), the island ordinances give you no automatic recognition - a 1968 IDP is not the document art. 112(1)/108(1) names. Ask the gezaghebber about the three-month temporary permit under art. 113 (Bonaire) / art. 109 (Sint Eustatius) before you drive, and expect rental firms to be unaware of the distinction.
• Do not read the 'six months' figure on the Bonaire government page as a tourist allowance. The decree behind it starts the clock at registration in the population register, which a visitor never triggers. It is a resident exchange deadline.
• Confirm Saba directly before travelling. Its copy of the shared Windward Islands ordinance was repealed on 05-06-2022 and no replacement is published on the national local-regulations portal.
• Island roads are often narrow, steep, poorly lit and shared with cyclists, scooters, pedestrians, goats and donkeys; reduce speed, especially after dark.

Read more about driving in Caribbean Netherlands

Watch what driving in Caribbean Netherlands looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Wegenverkeersverordening Bonaire arts. 112-113; Gezaghebbersbesluit buitenlandse rijbewijzen 2023 point 2; Wegenverkeersverordening Sint Eustatius 2022 arts. 108-109; Sint Eustatius Theory Test Service Document p. 78
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Wegenverkeersverordening Sint Eustatius 2022 (in force from 28-09-2022) - arts. 96-109 licences, art. 25 BAC, art. 127 penalties
5. Wegenverkeersverordening de Bovenwindse Eilanden (Saba copy) - shown as repealed per 05-06-2022; replacement not published on the portal
6. Uitvoeringsbesluit onderzoek rijvaardigheid Bonaire 2020 - art. 31a, practical-exam-only route for foreign-licence exchange
7. Theory Test Service Document for Sint Eustatius, 1st ed. 22 July 2024 (DriveRight International by order of the Executive Council) - 185-day grace period, IDP-as-translation, exchange country list; carries an express legal disclaimer
8. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic; Kingdom of the Netherlands ratified 19 Sep 1952 with territorial application to the Netherlands Antilles
9. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention; Kingdom of the Netherlands acceded 8 Nov 2007, later acceptances recorded 'for the European part of the Netherlands'
10. Dutch Caribbean Police Force (KPCN) - 'Emergency number: 911'
11. Government of the Netherlands - governance of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba as public bodies
12. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
13. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic