International Driving Permit in Jordan

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

Driving in Jordan: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Jordan?

Jordan recognises only the 1949 Geneva IDP. Confirmed at the UN Treaty Collection: Jordan acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic on 14 January 1960 and does not appear among the 91 parties to the 1968 Vienna Convention. The UK FCDO tells travellers they need both the 1949 IDP and their national licence in the car, so plan on carrying both. Obtain the IDP in your own licensing country before travel; it is a standardized translation of, never a replacement for, the original licence, and it does not cover insurance. Drivers from states party only to the 1968 Convention (several Gulf states, Iraq and others) can obtain only a 1968 IDP, which Jordan does not formally recognise — confirm your position with the DVLD or your rental company before travelling.

• 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 national licence and the 1949 IDP together in the vehicle, plus passport, vehicle registration and rental paperwork.

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 Jordan drive on?

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

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

No visitor-day cap could be verified from a primary Jordanian source, and the FCDO page states none. The practical ceiling is the shortest of your lawful visitor status, your home licence's own validity, and the 1949 IDP's one-year maximum validity. Widely repeated secondary claims of a two-week or one-month limit before a Jordanian licence becomes necessary are unverified and appear to describe a residence clock rather than a tourist clock — do not rely on them in either direction. (Jordanian Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Department (dvld.gov.jo) unreachable on 2026-07-29; the FCDO Jordan road guidance gives no period. The one-year IDP ceiling is a feature of the 1949 Geneva Convention itself.)

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

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

Jordan 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 14 Jan 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 Jordan with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Jordan as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Jordan recognises only the 1949 Geneva IDP and is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention. UK government guidance tells drivers to carry the 1949 IDP together with the original national licence, so plan on both. Keep insurance and vehicle papers in the car, stay at the scene after any accident and call 911, and check current FCDO regional warnings before you travel. 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:

• IDP required — the destination requires an IDP in addition to your national licence. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says which IDP to carry and what else to carry with it.
• Not recognised — the record shows no route to drive here as a visitor on this licence; ask the local authorities about conversion or a temporary permit. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what stands in the way.
• 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 Jordan? Jordan's official IDPs are issued by Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (RACJ). 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 Jordan? Rules for new residents

People who take up residence in Jordan should obtain a Jordanian driving licence from the Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Department (DVLD). Any nationality-based exchange arrangement is a resident entitlement and confers no visitor driving right — it must not be read as a shortcut for tourists. Official source.

Driving rules in Jordan tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: FCDO, verbatim: "It is illegal to drive or ride in a front seat without a seatbelt or use a mobile phone while driving." and "All cars must carry a fire extinguisher and warning triangle." Jordanian law is narrower than that summary: Traffic Law No. 49 of 2008 as amended, Article 29(d), sets a 50-dinar fine for a driver who uses the telephone while the vehicle is in motion if the telephone is held in the hand.
• Drink-driving: Drink-driving is an offence in Jordan. No blood-alcohol figure could be verified from a Jordanian statutory source and the FCDO page gives none, so treat zero alcohol as the operating rule. Not verified. No confirmed tariff was obtainable; expect traffic-law penalties, possible detention and loss of insurance cover.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right. FCDO, verbatim: "The speed limit varies from 40kph in some urban areas to 120kph on some highways." Follow posted signs.
• Carry the original national licence and the 1949 IDP together in the vehicle, plus passport, vehicle registration and rental paperwork.
• After an accident, do not leave the scene before the police arrive and take a statement; call 911 for police.
• Drive with care at night and avoid unlit roads. Stray animals, broken-down vehicles and unmarked roadworks are common, and there have been fatal accidents on the Desert Highway.
• Rental contracts normally bundle local third-party motor insurance; confirm the cover, the excess and any cross-border exclusion with the rental company. This is commercial practice, not a sourced legal requirement.
• Check the live FCDO Jordan advisory immediately before travel. As of 25 August 2026 the FCDO advises against all travel to within 3 km of the border with Syria, and has withdrawn its earlier advice against all but essential travel to Aqaba international airport and seaport; it warns that the regional situation remains unpredictable.

Read more about driving in Jordan

• 10 Interesting Facts About Jordan

Watch what driving in Jordan looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. UK FCDO Jordan — main advisory page, advice updated 25 August 2026: Syria-border restriction; Aqaba restriction withdrawn; regional volatility
4. UK FCDO Jordan — Getting help: "Telephone: 911 (ambulance, fire, police)"
5. UN Treaty Collection, MTDSG XI.B.1 — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic status list: "Jordan .......... 14 Jan 1960 a" (accession). 103 parties.
6. UN Treaty Collection, MTDSG XI.B.19 — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic status list, 91 parties: Jordan is absent (list runs Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait …)
7. Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (RACJ) — authorized IDP issuer in Jordan
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic