International Driving Permit in Chile

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

Driving in Chile: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Chile?

Traffic Law Article 5, second inciso, lets a foreign national who is in Chile as a tourist drive a vehicle matching Chile's Non-Professional Class B licence for the length of the tourist authorisation, carrying the valid national licence issued under the laws of the home country. An IDP is therefore not universally required. Article 5, first inciso, separately accepts a valid international driving licence or permit issued under a treaty or international agreement to which Chile is a party ('otorgado al amparo de tratados o acuerdos internacionales en que Chile sea parte') — Chile acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic on 10 August 1960 and only signed (never ratified) the 1968 Vienna Convention, so the treaty route means a 1949 IDP, carried with the original national licence.

• 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: Article 6 requires drivers to carry their licence, permit or citation slip and, on request by the competent authority, to prove identity and hand over the documents that entitle them to drive; the compulsory personal-accident insurance certificate for the vehicle must also be carried. In practice: original national licence, 1949 IDP or Spanish official translation if you use one, passport with the tourist stamp/authorisation, rental agreement and vehicle papers.

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

What side of the road does Chile drive on?

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

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

A valid foreign national licence equivalent to Chile's Non-Professional Class B licence may be used throughout the holder's current tourist authorisation. There is no separate day-count in the Traffic Law: the clock is the immigration tourist permission itself. A valid treaty-based international permit (1949 IDP) is an alternative route under the same article, subject to its own validity. (Chilean Traffic Law 18.290, Article 5, incisos 1 and 2)

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

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

Chile 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 10 Aug 1960.

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 Chile with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Chile as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Chile runs a broad, non-discriminatory tourist rule: any foreign national in Chile as a tourist may drive a car matching Chile's Non-Professional Class B licence for the whole length of their tourist authorisation, carrying the valid licence issued under their own country's law (Traffic Law 18.290, Article 5). No treaty membership, approved list or minimum period applies. A 1949 Geneva IDP is a separate, equally valid route under the same article — Chile acceded to the 1949 Convention in 1960 and never ratified the 1968 one — but it is not compulsory. A competent court may require an official Spanish translation of the foreign licence, so non-Latin-script licences are best paired with a 1949 IDP or a Spanish translation. Residents are a different regime: they need a Chilean licence via the municipality under Article 14 bis. 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.
• 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.
• National licence OK — IDD/translation advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, and no official convention IDP can be issued for it; carry an IDD or a certified translation instead. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] Chilean Traffic Law 18.290, Article 5, inciso 2

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

[b] IDD = International Driver's Document, a standardized translation of your national driving licence. You can apply here: https://idaoffice.org/apply-now/.

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 Chile? Chile's official IDPs are issued by Automovil Club de Chile (ACChi). 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 Chile? Rules for new residents

The broad national-licence route in Article 5 is tied to tourist status. Once a person is a resident rather than a tourist, that route stops applying and a Chilean licence must be obtained through an authorised municipality, unless a current reciprocal agreement or a diplomatic-status rule applies. Official source.

Driving rules in Chile tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: WHO 2023 records that Chile's seat-belt law applies to front and rear seat occupants, that the motorcycle helmet law applies to drivers and passengers on all road types, and that the child-restraint standard is specified at 8 years / 135 cm with children not seated in the front. Confirm with the rental company that the car carries the locally required warning triangles, fire extinguisher, first-aid kit and spare tyre or repair kit.
• Drink-driving: The WHO 2023 Chile profile records a BAC limit of 0.03 g/dl (0.3 g/l) for the general population and the same 0.03 g/dl for young or novice drivers. Chilean law distinguishes driving under the influence of alcohol ('conduccion bajo la influencia del alcohol') from the higher state of drunkenness ('estado de ebriedad'); the numeric value of that higher threshold was not re-verified on 29 July 2026. The safe rule is no alcohol at all. Penalties escalate with the alcohol level and with injury, death or repeat conduct and can include fines, licence suspension or cancellation, and imprisonment. Specific figures were not re-verified against the consolidated law on 29 July 2026.
• Speed limits: WHO 2023 records national maxima of 50 km/h urban, 100 km/h rural and 120 km/h motorway, with local authorities able to modify them. Some older Chilean driving material still quotes a 60 km/h urban figure. Posted signs govern.
• Article 6 requires drivers to carry their licence, permit or citation slip and, on request by the competent authority, to prove identity and hand over the documents that entitle them to drive; the compulsory personal-accident insurance certificate for the vehicle must also be carried. In practice: original national licence, 1949 IDP or Spanish official translation if you use one, passport with the tourist stamp/authorisation, rental agreement and vehicle papers.
• Traffic keeps to the right. The WHO 2023 Chile road-safety profile records national maximum speed limits of 50 km/h urban, 100 km/h rural and 120 km/h motorway, and records that local authorities can modify limits. Posted signs govern.
• Distances are long and conditions swing from Atacama desert to Andean passes, winter snow closures and Patagonian gravel and wind. Check pass closures, fuel range, gravel-road and border-crossing clauses in the rental contract before remote travel.

Read more about driving in Chile

• 10 Interesting Facts About Chile
• Best Places to Visit in Chile
• Getting a Driving License in Chile

Watch what driving in Chile looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. Primary (machine-readable): consolidated Ley 18.290 XML from the BCN law portal - Articles 5, 6, 13, 14 bis and 52; content truncates before the penalties title
4. Traffic Law Article 52 - foreign-plated vehicles in temporary admission under the 1949 Geneva 'Convencion sobre la Circulacion por Carreteras' (Articles 53-54 not re-verified)
5. Decree promulgating the Chile-Bolivia driving-licence agreement - published 13 May 2026, in force 30 April 2026, residents only
6. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: Chile acceded 10 August 1960
7. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: Chile signed 8 November 1968, never ratified (so no 1968 IDP route)
8. WHO Global status report on road safety 2023 - Chile profile (50/100/120 km/h, BAC 0.03 g/dl, seat belts front+rear, helmets drivers+passengers, child restraint 8 y / 135 cm)
9. CONASET official Class B driving handbook - URL live (2.7 MB PDF) but its text layer is not machine-extractable, so no claim in this dossier rests on it
10. Automovil Club de Chile (ACChi) — authorized IDP issuer in Chile
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
12. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic