International Driving Permit in Kazakhstan

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

Driving in Kazakhstan: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Kazakhstan?

An IDP is not legally required of a visitor. Article 73(13) of the Law on Road Traffic admits persons 'permanently or temporarily living and temporarily staying' in Kazakhstan to drive on a valid foreign national licence where they hold no Kazakhstan licence. Kazakhstan acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on 4 April 1994 and is not a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention, so only a 1968-model IDP has treaty force here; a 1949 IDP has no legal basis in Kazakhstan. Article 73(15): an IDP issued abroad is valid only when presented together with the corresponding national licence. Article 73(16): a foreign licence that does not conform to the requirements of Kazakhstan's international treaties is invalid — so a novelty or 'private international licence' has no legal force.

• 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, a certified Kazakh or Russian translation (or a genuine 1968 IDP with the national licence), passport and immigration/entry evidence, vehicle registration documents, insurance and the rental agreement. Article 612(1) of the Code of Administrative Offences penalises driving without the documents on you.

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

What side of the road does Kazakhstan drive on?

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

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

There is no fixed tourist clock. A foreign visitor ('temporarily staying') may drive on a valid foreign national licence for as long as the licence and the lawful stay remain valid, subject to Article 73(14)-(19). The 60-day cut-off in Article 73(19) is not a visitor clock: it runs only from the date a foreign citizen or stateless person receives a Kazakhstan residence permit, or from the date of entry for a holder who is a citizen of Kazakhstan. (Kazakhstan Law on Road Traffic, Article 73 paragraphs 13-19)

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

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

Kazakhstan is a Contracting Party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, but not to the 1949 Geneva Convention.

• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 4 Apr 1994.

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 Kazakhstan with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Kazakhstan as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Kazakhstan lets visitors drive on their own national licence — no IDP is legally required. Article 73(13) of the Law on Road Traffic admits temporarily staying foreigners on a valid foreign national licence, provided the licence conforms to Kazakhstan's international treaties. Kazakhstan is a 1968 Vienna Convention party and not a 1949 Geneva party, so only a 1968-model IDP has legal force, and any IDP must be shown together with the national licence. If the licence is not in Kazakh or Russian, carry a certified translation. There is no tourist time limit; the 60-day cut-off applies only after you obtain a residence permit, or from entry if you are a Kazakhstan citizen. 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:

• 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.
• No convention basis established for your licence — IDP advised — no road-traffic convention basis for your licence could be established at this destination, so this row settles neither that the licence alone is enough nor that anything must be carried with it; carrying an IDP is advised as a practical translation of your licence rather than as a legal entitlement. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be established.
• 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 Kazakhstan? We could not identify an authorized IDP issuer for Kazakhstan, so an IDP may have to be obtained elsewhere — check with the licensing authority before you travel.
• 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 Kazakhstan? Rules for new residents

Two separate 60-day clocks in Article 73(19), neither of which touches an ordinary tourist. (1) A foreign citizen or stateless person: the foreign national licence and any IDP become invalid 60 days after they receive a Kazakhstan residence permit (вид на жительство). (2) A citizen of Kazakhstan holding a foreign licence: it becomes invalid 60 days after entering Kazakhstan — a real trap for dual nationals and returning Kazakhstanis. Official source.

Driving rules in Kazakhstan tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts are compulsory for driver and all passengers where fitted. Cars, buses and lorries must carry a medical first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher and a warning triangle (or flashing red lamp); a motorcycle with a sidecar needs a first-aid kit and warning triangle. The Traffic Rules contain no dated winter-tyre mandate, but they do forbid mixing studded and non-studded (or frost-resistant and non-frost-resistant) tyres on one axle — and Kazakh winters make proper winter tyres a practical necessity.
• Drink-driving: Effectively zero. Kazakh law states no permitted BAC figure — the Traffic Rules prohibit driving 'in a state of intoxication (alcoholic, narcotic and/or toxicomanic)' and also while under medication that impairs reaction and attention. Do not drink at all before driving. Severe and non-monetary: Code of Administrative Offences Article 608(1) — 15 days' administrative arrest and a 7-year disqualification from driving, for a first offence. If injury or damage results, 20 days' arrest and 7 years. Repeat offences reach 20-25 days' arrest and 8-9 years. Where the driver held no right to drive at all, 20 days' arrest (30 on repetition), or a 200 MRP fine for persons to whom arrest cannot be applied.
• Speed limits: 60 km/h in built-up areas (90 only where signed), 20 km/h in residential/courtyard zones; outside built-up areas cars and motorcycles: up to 140 km/h on motorways where sign 3.24 permits, 110 km/h on divided-carriageway roads, 100 km/h on other roads. Lower ceilings apply to vans, buses and any car towing a trailer, and 50 km/h when towing another vehicle.
• Carry the original national licence, a certified Kazakh or Russian translation (or a genuine 1968 IDP with the national licence), passport and immigration/entry evidence, vehicle registration documents, insurance and the rental agreement. Article 612(1) of the Code of Administrative Offences penalises driving without the documents on you.
• You may not drive for hire or reward on a foreign or international licence unless you are a citizen of an EAEU member state. Ordinary tourist and rental driving is unaffected.
• Traffic keeps right. Verified statutory limits: 60 km/h in built-up areas (up to 90 km/h only where signed), 20 km/h in residential and courtyard zones; outside built-up areas for cars and motorcycles up to 140 km/h on motorways where sign 3.24 permits, 110 km/h on divided-carriageway roads and 100 km/h on all other roads.
• Zero tolerance for alcohol. The Traffic Rules simply prohibit driving in a state of intoxication and set no permitted milligram or promille threshold; intoxication is established by examination on a police officer's demand, and refusing that examination is itself punished by 15 days' arrest plus an 8-year disqualification.
• Rental companies routinely demand an IDP and a credit card even where the law recognises the national licence alone. This is contract practice, not a legal requirement.

Read more about driving in Kazakhstan

• Kazakhstan Roads: A Complete Guide to Driving and Road Conditions
• 10 Interesting Facts About Kazakhstan
• Best Places to Visit in Kazakhstan

Watch what driving in Kazakhstan looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Kazakhstan Law on Road Traffic, Article 73 paragraphs 13-19
3. Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 194-V 'On Road Traffic', consolidated text — Adilet (Russian, authoritative)
4. Kazakhstan Traffic Rules (Government Decree No. 1196) — speeds, driver duties, vehicle equipment
5. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: Kazakhstan acceded 4 April 1994
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: Kazakhstan does not appear
7. Authentic UN text of the 1968 Vienna Convention — Article 41 'Validity of driving permits'
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic