International Driving Permit in Guinea Bissau

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

Driving in Guinea Bissau: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Guinea Bissau?

Guinea-Bissau is not a contracting party to either the 1949 Geneva or the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (checked against the UN Treaty Collection participant lists), and no national statute recognising the IDP was located. An IDP therefore has no confirmed legal standing here and is not required: France's guidance permits a foreign licence outright for up to three months. It still has real practical value — UK guidance tells holders of an older paper licence they may need to get the correct version of the IDP as well, and notes that hire car companies often require one. Treat an IDP as a readability aid and a rental-counter document, not as a legal authorisation.

• 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: Carry a registration card number in the vehicle — gov.uk states your car hire firm should provide this. Carrying the original licence, passport or residence permit, the rental contract and evidence of insurance alongside it is standard practice rather than a documented Guinea-Bissau requirement.

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 Guinea Bissau drive on?

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

How long can you drive in Guinea Bissau with a foreign licence?

Maximum three months on the foreign licence. In practice the usable window ends earlier if immigration permission, the home licence, the rental contract or the insurance cover expires first. (France Diplomatie Guinea-Bissau informations utiles, 'une periode n'excedant pas trois mois', updated 20 July 2026; same three-month figure on gov.uk)

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

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

Guinea Bissau is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Guinea Bissau, 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 Guinea Bissau with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Guinea Bissau as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Guinea-Bissau lets you drive on your existing national licence for up to three months, whatever country issued it — it is not party to either international driving convention, so no IDP is legally required and none is legally recognised either. An IDP is still worth carrying if your licence is a paper one, is in a non-Latin script, or if you are hiring a car, since rental firms often insist on it. Insurance is mandatory; ECOWAS Brown Card cover is recommended. Carry the vehicle's registration card number. After three months you need a Guinea-Bissau licence. 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] France Diplomatie Guinea-Bissau informations utiles, verbatim: 'Permis de conduire : il est possible de conduire avec un permis etranger pour une periode n'excedant pas trois mois' (updated 20 July 2026); corroborated by gov.uk 'You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in Guinea-Bissau for up to 3 months.'

[2] Inference from UK gov.uk paper-versus-photocard IDP wording; NOT stated by France or UK guidance as a script rule

[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 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 Guinea Bissau? Rules for new residents

The three-month visitor window and the conversion trigger are the same clock, not two different ones: once the three months on the foreign licence expire, a Guinea-Bissau licence is required in order to keep driving. There is no separate longer residence allowance and no shorter tourist allowance. Foreign-government travel advice.

Driving rules in Guinea Bissau tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: No official Guinea-Bissau mandatory-equipment list was located. As general practice, check tyres and a serviceable spare, brakes, lights, seat belts and warning equipment, and carry the registration card number and recognised insurance.
• Drink-driving: Treat the limit as zero. gov.uk states verbatim: 'Drink-driving is a serious offence in Guinea-Bissau. If you are tested and found to have any alcohol in your system, you may get a fine and a possible prison sentence.' No statutory BAC figure was located, so no number should be quoted. gov.uk indicates a fine and a possible prison sentence but gives no amount, and no official penalty schedule was reachable. No figure available.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right. No official Guinea-Bissau speed-limit table was located in any accessible source, so obey posted km/h signage and do not rely on assumed default limits; reduce speed sharply for potholes, flooding, pedestrians, livestock and unlit vehicles.
• Carry a registration card number in the vehicle — gov.uk states your car hire firm should provide this. Carrying the original licence, passport or residence permit, the rental contract and evidence of insurance alongside it is standard practice rather than a documented Guinea-Bissau requirement.
• Insurance is mandatory — France Diplomatie states 'La souscription d'une assurance est obligatoire.' Separately, gov.uk recommends getting local car insurance recognised by the ECOWAS Brown Card scheme. The Brown Card recommendation comes from the UK page only; the French page does not mention it.
• Avoid driving at night. Outside Bissau take local advice and stay on paved roads — gov.uk states landmines remain a risk in parts of the country and demining continues. Expect rain to make routes difficult or impassable; note the two governments give different windows, gov.uk says June to October and France Diplomatie says July to September, so plan for the wider June-October range.
• Road conditions are poor. France Diplomatie states 'L'etat du reseau routier est tres mediocre' and gov.uk states that traffic is generally light but driving standards and road conditions, including in Bissau, are poor.

Read more about driving in Guinea Bissau

• 10 Interesting Facts About Guinea Bissau
• Best Places to Visit in Guinea-Bissau

Watch what driving in Guinea Bissau looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. UK FCDO Guinea-Bissau safety and security — three-month photocard rule, paper-licence IDP wording, registration card number, ECOWAS Brown Card, hire-firm IDP requirement, drink-driving and landmine text
3. UK FCDO Guinea-Bissau getting help — ambulance 1313, fire 1313, police 117
4. UN Treaty Collection XI-B-1, 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic participant list — Guinea-Bissau absent; Portugal present (acceded 28 Dec 1955, with territorial extension to overseas provinces)
5. UNECE contracting-parties list, 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic — Guinea-Bissau absent from the 86 parties
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic