International Driving Permit in Cuba

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

Driving in Cuba: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Cuba?

No IDP is required by Cuban law. Ley 109 (Codigo de Seguridad Vial) Art. 275 lets any foreign visitor drive on a licence or official authorisation in full force ("una licencia o autorizacion oficial en pleno vigor") from their country of residence for six months from entry, with no permit, treaty or translation condition attached. Cuba is a party to both road-traffic conventions (Geneva 1949, acceded 1 Oct 1952; Vienna 1968, acceded 30 Sep 1977), so either IDP format is honoured if you carry one, and Cuba itself issues 1968-format permits (Ley 109 Art. 269). UK government guidance directs its own drivers to the 1968 format for Cuba. Treat the IDP as an optional aid for a paper, non-Latin or hard-to-read licence and for state rental desks — never as a substitute for the original national licence, which Art. 275 requires you to hold.

• 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: A traffic accident is treated as a criminal matter and the burden runs against the driver. Canadian government guidance states that if you are found responsible for a crash causing serious injury or death "you could face up to 10 years in prison", and that Cuban authorities can prohibit you from leaving the country until the rental agency is paid and all claims are settled. Do not leave the scene; call the police.

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

What side of the road does Cuba drive on?

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

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

Six months, non-extendable ("improrrogable"), counted from the date of entry into Cuban territory - not 180 days and not tied to any particular nationality. The right covers only categories A and B and subcategory A-1 (motorcycles and ordinary cars); heavier categories are not covered by a foreign licence at all. Never beyond the validity of the national licence itself, immigration permission, the rental contract or insurance. (Ley 109 Art. 275; independently corroborated by UK government Cuba guidance ("You can drive in Cuba with a UK driving licence for up to 6 months"))

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

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

Cuba is a Contracting Party to both United Nations Conventions on Road Traffic — the Geneva Convention of 19 September 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 8 November 1968. International Driving Permits of both the 1949 and the 1968 type are therefore issued against its framework; which types Cuba accepts from visitors is shown in the table above.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 1 Oct 1952.
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 30 Sep 1977.

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 Cuba with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Cuba as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Cuba lets visitors from any country drive on their own valid national licence for six non-extendable months from the date of entry - this is a rule of Cuban law (Ley 109, Art. 275), not a treaty or bilateral privilege, and it covers cars and motorcycles only. An IDP is not required, though a 1968-format permit is a sensible companion for a paper or non-Latin licence. What makes Cuba demanding is not the paperwork: the FCDO advises against all but essential travel because of grid collapses and exhausted fuel reserves, rental insurance is void if you are at fault, and a crash causing serious injury can mean an exit ban or a prison sentence. 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.
• IDP or translation — your national licence needs a supporting document alongside it. Which ones the destination accepts, and whether an official IDP can be issued for your licence at all, are in the row for your country of issue, in the table below.
• 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] Ley 109 Codigo de Seguridad Vial, Art. 275 (verbatim: "Los extranjeros o cubanos residentes permanentes en el extranjero que se encuentran transitoriamente en el territorio nacional, pueden conducir vehiculos de motor de los comprendidos en las categorias 'A' y 'B' y subcategoria 'A-1' ... durante un periodo improrrogable de seis meses, contados a partir de la fecha de entrada en el territorio nacional, siempre que posean una licencia o autorizacion oficial en pleno vigor que los capacite para conducir tales vehiculos en su pais de residencia")

[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 Cuba? Cuba's official IDPs are issued by Federacion de Automovilismo y Kartismo de Cuba (FAKC). 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 Cuba? Rules for new residents

The visitor clock and the residence trigger are the same boundary in Cuba, which is unusually clean: Art. 275 gives six non-extendable months from entry, and Art. 276 states that when the stay exceeds six months a Cuban national driving licence must be obtained ("es necesario obtener la licencia de conduccion nacional"). There is no second, longer residence clock to confuse with the tourist one. Official source.

Driving rules in Cuba tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Check tyres, spare wheel, lights, brakes and warning equipment before departure, and carry fuel reserve, water and working communications - fuel and power shortages are severe and filling stations can be far apart. Verify what the rental contract obliges you to carry, since a missing item becomes your liability at return.
• Drink-driving: Cuba has a published official threshold table. Ministry of Public Health Resolution 28/2011, annexed to the Ley 109 edition, sets the breath figures: 0.25 mg per litre of exhaled air is the boundary for establishing impairment of driving capacity, 0.50 mg per litre or more diagnoses alcoholic intoxication, and readings of 0.15 mg per litre or less are recorded as negative. The blood scale is: under 25 mg% negative; 25-49 mg% ingestion without effect; 50-99 mg% impairment without intoxication; 100-199 mg% simple intoxication; 200 mg% or more manifest intoxication. In practice drive at zero - the 0.25 mg/L breath figure is where enforcement begins, and refusal to be tested is recorded against you. Alcohol and drug offences sit in the most serious enforcement track: the annexed decree expressly denies the three-working-day 50 percent early-payment discount to drivers cited for driving under the effects of alcohol or drugs ("aquellos conductores notificados por conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol, o de drogas toxicas"), and Ley 109 doubles the penalty where a traffic infraction is committed under the influence. Licence suspension or cancellation, detention and loss of rental insurance cover follow. The exact current peso amount could not be verified.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right. General limits in Ley 109 Art. 126: 50 km/h on urban roads for all motor vehicles; 90 km/h on ordinary highways (carreteras) for cars up to 3,500 kg and buses, 80 km/h for rigid and articulated goods vehicles, 70 km/h for cars with trailers, cranes and similar; 100 km/h on motorways (autopistas) for cars up to 3,500 kg and buses, 90 km/h for goods vehicles, 80 km/h for trailers and cranes; 20 km/h for construction, industrial and agricultural equipment. Towing is capped at 30 km/h urban and 40 km/h rural, with lights on. Signage may set a lower or, for light vehicles and buses, a higher limit.
• The UK FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to Cuba. The reason is infrastructure collapse, not crime: the national electricity grid collapsed for the third time in a week on 14 July, and the government announced on 13 May that the country had exhausted its diesel and fuel-oil reserves, causing "severe and sustained disruption to essential infrastructure and basic services, including transport, medical care and communications". Plan fuel before every leg and expect to be told to conserve fuel, water, food and phone charge.
• A traffic accident is treated as a criminal matter and the burden runs against the driver. Canadian government guidance states that if you are found responsible for a crash causing serious injury or death "you could face up to 10 years in prison", and that Cuban authorities can prohibit you from leaving the country until the rental agency is paid and all claims are settled. Do not leave the scene; call the police.
• Rental agencies are state-controlled and the insurance behaves differently from home cover: if you are found at fault, "the rental agency will nullify your coverage" and will pursue you for repair costs, and the person who signs is responsible for every driver of the vehicle. Read the exclusions before signing and keep the contract with you - police write infractions by non-residents directly onto the rental contract.
• Carry the original national licence at all times - Art. 261 forbids driving without the corresponding licence or permit, and an IDP alone would not satisfy it. Also carry passport and entry evidence (the six-month clock runs from the entry date stamped on arrival), rental documents and insurance proof. Roads are poorly maintained with missing signs, inadequate lighting, unlit vehicles and animals; avoid driving at night.

Read more about driving in Cuba

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

Watch what driving in Cuba looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. UN Treaty Collection XI-B-1: Cuba acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic on 1 Oct 1952
3. UN Treaty Collection XI-B-19: Cuba acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic on 30 Sep 1977
4. UK FCDO Cuba: "You can drive in Cuba with a UK driving licence for up to 6 months" - independent corroboration that the six-month rule is not France-specific
5. UK FCDO Cuba: advises against all but essential travel; grid collapse 14 July, diesel and fuel-oil reserves exhausted 13 May
6. UK FCDO Cuba: emergency numbers 104 ambulance, 105 fire, 106 police
7. Government of Canada Cuba: up to 10 years' imprisonment if responsible for a crash causing serious injury or death; exit ban until rental claims settled; at-fault renters lose insurance cover
8. UK government IDP format table: Cuba listed as 1968 ("Cuba | 1968")
9. Federacion de Automovilismo y Kartismo de Cuba (FAKC) — authorized IDP issuer in Cuba
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic