International Driving Permit in Dominica

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

Driving in Dominica: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Dominica?

No International Driving Permit is valid in Dominica on its own. Section 50(2) of the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act exempts the holder of an international driving licence issued under an international convention "to which the State has adhered" — but Dominica is a party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna Convention (UN Treaty Collection, status as at 29 July 2026), so the exemption has no trigger. The visitor route is a temporary Dominican driving licence granted under s.50(1) on production of a valid foreign licence, issued by the Inland Revenue Division (the Licensing Authority) or by a motor-vehicle/cycle rental agent authorised by the Commissioner of Police.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: your national licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here on their own — for almost every origin, driving requires a document the destination itself issues. The answer below names it; check with the destination’s authorities whether a visitor can obtain one before you travel.
• Car renters: Get the temporary licence before you drive, not after. Rental agents authorised by the Commissioner of Police can issue it at the counter; otherwise apply to the Inland Revenue Division. Carry it together with the original foreign licence, passport, rental agreement, vehicle registration and insurance.

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

What side of the road does Dominica drive on?

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

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

A bona fide visitor with a valid foreign licence obtains a temporary Dominican driving licence, granted for a minimum of one month and a maximum of three months (s.50(1) caps it at 'a period not exceeding three months'). Inland Revenue publishes EC$30.00 for one month and EC$60.00 for three months. Rental agents authorised by the Commissioner of Police may issue it. (Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Chap. 46:50, s.50(1); Inland Revenue Division, Driver's License)

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

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

Dominica is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Dominica, and convention rules do not bind it — licence acceptance is governed purely by local law and bilateral arrangements.

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 Dominica with your country's licence?

This answer is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Dominica as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Dominica is not a party to the 1949 or 1968 road-traffic conventions, so an International Driving Permit has no legal effect there — and neither does a foreign national licence on its own. Every visitor must first obtain a temporary Dominican driving licence, granted on production of a valid foreign licence for one month (EC$30) or three months (EC$60) by the Inland Revenue Division or by a rental agent authorised by the Commissioner of Police. Driving without it is an offence carrying a EC$1,000 fine. Traffic drives on the left, and the island's narrow, steep, pothole-marked roads demand speeds well below any posted limit. 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).

Locally issued document required — a foreign licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here; the destination issues its own document and you must obtain it before you drive.

What you need to carry — Temporary Dominican driving licence (visitor's permit)

Why — A foreign licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here; the destination issues its own document and it must be obtained first [1]

Sources and notes for the answer above

[1] Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Chap. 46:50, s.50(1); IRD Driver's License page — Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Chap. 46:50, ss. 30(1) and 50(1); Inland Revenue Division fee schedule

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 Dominica? Dominica's IDPs are issued by Commissioner of Police (Licensing Authority). Official site. Dominica is party to neither road-traffic convention, so the permit is issued outside the UN convention framework and is not an official convention IDP — check that your destination accepts it.
• 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 Dominica? Rules for new residents

Two different clocks. The visitor route is a temporary licence capped at three months (s.50(1)). A resident holds an ordinary Dominican driving licence, which expires on the third anniversary of the holder's birthday (s.46). Repeated visitor permits are not a residence route. Official source.

Driving rules in Dominica tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat-belt use and exemptions are regulated by s.79. Using a vehicle in a defective condition is an offence (s.66). Compulsory third-party motor insurance is required under the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third-Party Risks) Act, Chap. 46:51, expressly applied to visitors' vehicles by s.29(3). Check tyres, brakes, lights and spare wheel before setting off, and confirm the rental's insurance covers you.
• Drink-driving: 0.08% — the Act defines the 'prescribed limit' as eighty milligrammes of alcohol in one hundred millilitres of blood, or 107 mg per 100 ml of urine (s.62(1) and (4)). Police may require a roadside breath test on reasonable suspicion or after any accident (s.58). Driving over the prescribed limit (s.56) or while incapable through drink or drugs (s.55): a fine of two thousand dollars (EC$2,000) and twelve months' imprisonment on a first conviction; three thousand five hundred dollars (EC$3,500) and two years on a second or subsequent conviction. A s.55 conviction carries mandatory disqualification of not less than one and not more than five years (s.55(2)). Refusing a breath test: EC$500 and six months (s.58(3)); refusing a laboratory specimen: EC$500 and three months, rising to EC$1,000 and six months (s.59(2)).
• Speed limits: Section 54(1) makes it an offence to exceed the speed 'specified in the Regulations' — penalty EC$1,000 and twelve months — but the published Chapter 46:50 states that it 'contains no Subsidiary Legislation', and no current official speed schedule or unit (mph vs km/h) was located online. Obey posted limits; on Dominica's narrow, steep, pothole-marked roads the safe speed is well below any posted figure.
• Get the temporary licence before you drive, not after. Rental agents authorised by the Commissioner of Police can issue it at the counter; otherwise apply to the Inland Revenue Division. Carry it together with the original foreign licence, passport, rental agreement, vehicle registration and insurance.
• You must show your own national driving licence to get the temporary Dominican licence — car rental companies normally handle the paperwork when you present it.
• Traffic drives on the left.
• Roads are sometimes narrow and in poor condition. Pedestrians often walk on the roads, drivers swerve to avoid potholes or fail to indicate before pulling out, and there are few road signs, so it is easy to get lost.
• The main highway from Douglas-Charles Airport is prone to landslides after bad weather and has sheer drops where the road has fallen away. Avoid driving on this road at night.
• If you have an accident, call the police and do not move your vehicle.

Read more about driving in Dominica

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

Watch what driving in Dominica looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Chap. 46:50, s.50(1); Inland Revenue Division, Driver's License
3. UK FCDO travel advice for Dominica — road travel, temporary Dominican licence, road conditions, accident procedure
4. UK FCDO travel advice for Dominica — emergency services number 999
5. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Convention on Road Traffic, participant list (Dominica absent, status 29 July 2026)
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Convention on Road Traffic, participant list (Dominica absent, status 29 July 2026)
7. Commissioner of Police (Licensing Authority) — authorized IDP issuer in Dominica
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic