International Driving Permit in Jordan

🗓 Facts checked against Jordan'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 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's Traffic Law (No. 49 of 2008 as amended), art. 16(a), lets a driver aged 18 or over drive a foreign-registered vehicle, a rental car or a tourist motorcycle on a valid foreign driving licence or an international licence issued outside Jordan that covers the vehicle ('رخصة قيادة أجنبية أو رخصة دولية'). The IDP is one of the two documents the law accepts, not a requirement, and the law names no IDP edition. Jordan acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic on 14 January 1960 and is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention. UK government advice is to carry both the 1949 IDP and the national licence in the car. An IDP is a translation of the licence, never a replacement for it, and it does not cover insurance. Driving a Jordanian-registered private car needs a Traffic Department permit, granted for up to three months a year and renewable (art. 16(b)).

• 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: UK government advice is to carry the original national licence and the 1949 IDP together in the vehicle; Jordan's Traffic Law, art. 16(a), accepts a valid foreign licence or an international licence. Carry your passport, vehicle registration and rental paperwork as well.

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?

Jordan's Traffic Law, art. 16(a), names no visitor period for driving a rental car, tourist motorcycle or foreign-registered vehicle on a foreign or international licence. A visitor driving a Jordanian private car needs a Traffic Department permit, granted for up to three months a year and renewable (art. 16(b)). The licence must be valid while you drive. Widely repeated claims of a two-week or one-month limit were not found in the law; check with the Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Department before a long stay. (Traffic Law No. 49 of 2008 and its amendments, art. 16(a) and (b) (consolidated text published by the Public Security Directorate))

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's Traffic Law, art. 16(a), accepts a valid foreign driving licence or an international licence for driving a rental car, a tourist motorcycle or a foreign-registered vehicle from age 18; a Jordanian private car needs a Traffic Department permit (art. 16(b)). UK government advice is to carry the 1949 IDP together with the national licence. 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:

• 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.
• 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] Traffic Law No. 49 of 2008 and its amendments, art. 16(a)

[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 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. Traffic Law No. 49 of 2008 as amended, art. 26(c): driving under the influence of alcohol above the permitted blood-alcohol limit set by instructions, or drinking alcohol while driving, is punished by one to three months' imprisonment, or a fine of 250 to 500 dinars, or both.
• 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.
• UK government advice is to carry the original national licence and the 1949 IDP together in the vehicle; Jordan's Traffic Law, art. 16(a), accepts a valid foreign licence or an international licence. Carry your passport, vehicle registration and rental paperwork as well.
• 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