International Driving Permit in Malta

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

Driving in Malta: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Malta?

No IDP is required to drive in Malta. Regulation 5 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (S.L. 65.18) lets the holder of a driving licence issued by any third country drive on that licence alone for up to 12 months from the date of last entry, and regulation 6 recognises EU/EEA licences outright. Transport Malta states expressly: "International Driver Permits are not equivalent to Driving Licences." An IDP is therefore a companion translation only — never a substitute for the original licence — but it is still worth carrying if your licence is not in the Latin alphabet, since rental desks and roadside police must be able to read it. Malta is a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention (succession 3 January 1966) and not to the 1968 Vienna Convention, so a 1949-format IDP is the format grounded in a convention Malta has joined.

• 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 the original physical driving licence at all times, plus rental agreement or ownership evidence, registration and insurance documents. An IDP is only a companion to the original and Transport Malta states it is not equivalent to a driving licence.
• EU / EEA licence holders: no IDP needed.

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

What side of the road does Malta drive on?

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

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

EU/EEA licence: recognised for as long as it is valid in the issuing state. Any other (third-country) licence: "a period not exceeding twelve months from the date of his last entry into Malta" — the clock restarts on each fresh entry, so a tourist who leaves and returns starts a new 12 months. Caveat in the proviso to reg. 5: a third-country licence holder may not drive categories C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D, DE or f (trucks, buses, agricultural tractors) unless he also holds a certificate of professional competence or is an exempt driver. Ordinary car (B) hire is unaffected. (S.L. 65.18 reg. 5 and reg. 6; identical wording reproduced on Transport Malta's foreign-licence page)

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

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

Malta 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: succession on 3 Jan 1966.

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 Malta with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Malta as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Malta is one of the most open destinations in Europe for foreign drivers. Regulation 6 of S.L. 65.18 recognises EU and EEA licences outright, and regulation 5 lets the holder of a licence from any other country drive on that national licence alone for up to twelve months from the date of last entry — no International Driving Permit, no approved-country list, no translation requirement. Transport Malta states plainly that an IDP "is not equivalent to a Driving Licence": it is a companion document, useful if your licence is not in the Latin alphabet, never a replacement. The short list of countries you may see quoted — Australia, the UAE, the UK, Switzerland — governs only the residents' licence-exchange route, not the right to drive as a visitor. 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] S.L. 65.18 reg. 5 (third-country licences, 12 months from last entry) and reg. 6 (Member State licences recognised); Transport Malta, "Exchange your foreign Driving Licence", page last updated 18 June 2026

[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 Malta? Malta's official IDPs are issued by Transport Malta (Land Transport Directorate) — 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 Malta? Rules for new residents

Two different clocks. Visitors: reg. 5 gives 12 months from last entry on any third-country licence. Residents: once you take up normal residence you must either exchange (if your licence qualifies) or pass the Maltese test before the 12 months from your last entry expire. "Normal residence" is defined in reg. 2 as living in Malta at least 185 days in each calendar year. EU/EEA holders may keep driving on a valid EU/EEA licence and exchange voluntarily. Official source.

Driving rules in Malta tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts compulsory front and rear where fitted; appropriate child restraint required and the airbag must be deactivated for a rear-facing seat. Carry a warning triangle — the Road Code requires it to be placed at least 50 m behind a broken-down vehicle. Tyre tread minimum 1.6 mm for cars. Check with the rental company that the triangle and high-visibility gear are actually in the boot before you leave the desk.
• Drink-driving: 0.05% (50 mg alcohol per 100 ml blood / 22 microgrammes per 100 ml breath / 67 mg per 100 ml urine) for ordinary drivers. 0.02% (20 mg blood / 9 microgrammes breath / 27 mg urine) for commercial-vehicle drivers and for anyone on a probationary licence. Zero for buses, coaches, vehicles on priority duty and any vehicle carrying passengers for a fee. Zero is safest. Article 15H, Cap. 65 (as amended by Act II of 2026): a fine (multa) of not less than EUR 4,000 on a first conviction and not less than EUR 8,000 on a second or subsequent conviction, plus mandatory disqualification from holding or obtaining a licence for not less than 6 months (first) or not less than 1 year (repeat), plus 3-11 penalty points (code DD-1). Older figures of EUR 1,200-2,329 circulating online are stale.
• Speed limits: Drive on the left. Private cars, taxis, hire cars and motorcycles: 50 km/h in towns and villages, 80 km/h outside them. Minibuses and goods vehicles: 40 / 60 km/h. Industrial, agricultural and towing vehicles: 20 / 30 km/h. Some built-up areas are posted at 30 km/h. Any built-up area of 100+ inhabitants counts as an inhabited area at 50 km/h unless signed otherwise. Malta has no motorway network.
• Drive on the left and give way to the right at roundabouts. UK FCDO advises that "some roads are in poor condition" and that "local standards of driving are poor" — allow extra braking distance and expect narrow village streets.
• Carry the original physical driving licence at all times, plus rental agreement or ownership evidence, registration and insurance documents. An IDP is only a companion to the original and Transport Malta states it is not equivalent to a driving licence.
• Penalty points bite hard on tourists too. Current Sixth Schedule (as amended 2023-2024): mobile phone in the hand 6-9 points; in-ear or over-ear hands-free device 6-9; seat belt 3; speeding 3-6; drink-driving 3-11; no valid licence 3-6. Note that Transport Malta's own downloadable penalty-points abstract still shows the pre-2023 figure of 3-6 for the mobile-phone offence — the consolidated regulations govern.
• Malta has no motorways — the fastest roads are "arterial and distributor" roads capped at 80 km/h. Distances are short, but congestion around Valletta, Sliema and the airport is heavy and parking in historic centres is very limited.

Read more about driving in Malta

• 10 Interesting Facts About Malta
• What is Malta Famous For?

Watch what driving in Malta looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. S.L. 65.18 reg. 5 and reg. 6; identical wording reproduced on Transport Malta's foreign-licence page
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Transport Malta Road Code (English) — speed-limit table, alcohol limits, seat belts, warning triangle, emergency numbers
5. Transport Malta penalty-points abstract (PDF dated 23 November 2020 — stale for the mobile-phone offence; use the Sixth Schedule of S.L. 65.18)
6. UK FCDO Malta travel advice — UK photocard accepted, road conditions and driving standards
7. UN treaty status, 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic — Malta, succession 3 January 1966
8. Transport Malta (Land Transport Directorate) — authorized IDP issuer in Malta
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic