International Driving Permit in French Guiana

🗓 We could not independently verify the road-traffic law for French Guiana; facts here rely on official travel guidance where available. 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 French Guiana: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in French Guiana?
• What side of the road does French Guiana drive on?
• How long can you drive in French Guiana with a foreign licence?
• Is French Guiana a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in French Guiana with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to French Guiana? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in French Guiana tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in French Guiana
• Sources

Driving in French Guiana: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in French Guiana?

French Guiana is a French overseas department (DROM) and an EU outermost region, so French road and licence law applies in full. No IDP is legally required: a visitor drives on their own valid national licence. If that licence is not written in French, French law requires it to be accompanied by either an official French translation or an International Driving Permit — the IDP is the translation, never a substitute for the licence itself. France is a party to both the 1949 Geneva Convention (ratified 15 Sep 1950, extended by declaration to French overseas territories) and the 1968 Vienna Convention (ratified 9 Dec 1971), so IDPs of either type are usable. EU/EEA licences need nothing extra. UK photocard holders need no IDP (gov.uk: "You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in French Guiana"); an old UK paper licence should be updated or backed by an IDP.

• 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: Carry the original licence (a translation or IDP never replaces it), passport/ID, vehicle registration, insurance and rental papers. French police can check documents at the roadside and there are gendarmerie checkpoints on the RN1 and RN2.
• EU / EEA licence holders: no IDP needed — A valid EU/EEA licence is recognised with no translation and no IDP, subject to the licence remaining valid and to any restrictions/withdrawals.

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 French Guiana drive on?

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

How long can you drive in French Guiana with a foreign licence?

For the whole of a temporary (non-resident) stay, while the foreign licence remains valid. No French Guiana or French day cap for visitors was identified. The widely quoted one-year limit is a residence clock, not a tourist clock: it runs from the date the holder acquires normal residence in France, so it never starts for a genuine visitor. (Code de la route R.222-3 (recognition of non-EU licences for one year after acquisition of normal residence); French Guiana / France UK travel advice)

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

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

French Guiana 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 French Guiana accepts from visitors is shown in the table above.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: applies via France (territorial application).
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: applies via France (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 French Guiana with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to French Guiana as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. French Guiana is a French overseas department and EU outermost region, so French rules apply in full. Visitors drive on their own valid national licence for the whole of a temporary stay — there is no visitor day cap and no IDP is legally required. An EU/EEA licence needs nothing extra; any licence not written in French must be accompanied by an official French translation or an International Driving Permit (1949 or 1968). The familiar one-year limit is a residence clock, not a tourist clock. 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.
• Treaty recognises licence + IDP — advised — the 1968 Vienna Convention obliges this destination to recognise a national licence conforming to Annex 6 of that Convention, and separately an IDP presented together with the national licence it belongs to; this row does not record whether your own licence conforms to Annex 6, and the licence-and-IDP pair is recognised either way, so carrying both 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] 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 French Guiana? French Guiana's official IDPs are issued by Agence nationale des titres sécurisés (ANTS / France Titres) — applications are accepted online. 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 French Guiana? Rules for new residents

Residents follow the French rules. EU/EEA licences stay valid (exchange only in specific cases such as an offence, loss/theft or expiry). Most non-EU/EEA licences may be used for one year from the date normal residence is acquired in France, after which they must have been exchanged for a French licence — and exchange is only possible where a reciprocity agreement with the issuing state exists and the application was filed inside the deadline. Official source.

Driving rules in French Guiana tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry a warning triangle and a reflective vest (inside the cabin, not the boot). Seat belts for all occupants and approved child restraints are mandatory. Lights and tyres must comply with French rules. The old obligation to carry a breathalyser no longer applies.
• Drink-driving: 0.5 g/L blood (0.25 mg/L breath) for ordinary drivers; 0.2 g/L for probationary licence holders (under three years) and for bus/coach drivers. gov.uk states for French Guiana: "The blood alcohol limit (0.05%) is lower than in England, Wales and Northern Ireland." Zero is safest. 0.5-0.8 g/L is a fixed fine plus 6 licence points; 0.8 g/L and above is a criminal offence carrying heavier fines, possible imprisonment and licence suspension. Exact current amounts were not re-verified on 29 July 2026.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right, obey posted French km/h limits: 50 in built-up areas, 80 on ordinary two-way roads outside towns (some departments restored 90 — follow the signs), 110 on dual carriageways, 130 on motorways. Limits drop in rain (110 -> 100, 130 -> 110). In practice French Guiana has no motorway network, so the higher figures are rarely encountered — the RN1/RN2 are the fastest roads.
• Carry the original licence (a translation or IDP never replaces it), passport/ID, vehicle registration, insurance and rental papers. French police can check documents at the roadside and there are gendarmerie checkpoints on the RN1 and RN2.
• Drive on the right. The road network is essentially two coastal national roads (RN1 Cayenne-Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, RN2 Cayenne-Saint-Georges) plus local roads; the interior is largely trackless. Heavy tropical rain, flooding, unlit roads at night and long stretches without mobile coverage or fuel make route and weather checks essential.
• French equipment and restraint rules apply: seat belts front and rear, approved child restraints, and a warning triangle plus reflective vest carried in the passenger compartment. Winter-tyre/snow-chain and headlamp-deflector rules that appear in mainland-France guides are irrelevant here.
• Rental firms in Cayenne/Kourou commonly refuse cover for unsealed interior tracks and river crossings, and may require an IDP even though the law does not.

Read more about driving in French Guiana

• Best Places to Visit in French Guiana

Watch what driving in French Guiana looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. UK FCDO travel advice for France — UK photocard accepted, on-the-spot fines
4. UK IDP table — France listed as 1968, "You do not need an IDP" for UK photocard holders
5. UN treaty status, 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic — France ratified 15 Sep 1950, extended to French overseas territories
6. UN treaty status, 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic — France ratified 9 Dec 1971
7. RAC France guide — speed limits, 0.05%/0.02% BAC, triangle + reflective jacket, "Visitors must be aged 18 or over" (secondary tier)
8. Official French foreign-licence rules — cited but not re-fetchable on the date checked (domain blocked)
9. Agence nationale des titres sécurisés (ANTS / France Titres) — authorized IDP issuer in French Guiana
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic