International Driving Permit in Mauritius

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

Driving in Mauritius: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Mauritius?

No IDP is legally required for a visitor whose national licence is accepted. UK guidance states 'You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in Mauritius'; Canadian guidance allows a valid Canadian licence for up to four weeks; Dutch guidance states 'Uw Nederlandse rijbewijs is geldig in Mauritius'. Mauritius acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention on 13 May 1959, so a 1949-model IDP is the treaty-matching companion document and is the prudent choice for any licence not written in English or French. Car hire firms routinely impose their own IDP, higher minimum age and one-year-experience conditions regardless of the legal position. Note: the Rs 800 International Driving Permit counter run by the Police Traffic Branch serves Mauritian domestic licence holders travelling abroad (it requires a National Identity Card and a valid domestic licence) - it is not a permit visitors obtain locally.

• 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.

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

What side of the road does Mauritius drive on?

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

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

About four weeks. Canadian government guidance states that a visitor may drive on a valid national licence for up to four weeks; UK and Dutch guidance confirm their national licences are accepted but state no duration. Treat four weeks as the planning assumption and arrange conversion or take local advice for a longer stay. (Government of Canada travel advice for Mauritius: 'You can drive in Mauritius with a valid Canadian driver's licence for up to four weeks.')

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

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

Whether either United Nations Convention on Road Traffic applies in Mauritius is not established: we could not confirm any ratification, accession or territorial extension covering Mauritius for the 1949 Geneva Convention or the 1968 Vienna Convention. That is a gap in what we could establish, not a finding that Mauritius sits outside both conventions — and it is not a status that can be inferred from the country responsible for its international relations. Treat any International Driving Permit requirement here as unconfirmed and check with the authorities before you travel.

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 Mauritius with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Mauritius as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Mauritius accepts foreign national driving licences from short-term visitors without requiring an International Driving Permit - UK, Canadian and Dutch government guidance each confirm their own national licences are accepted - and Canadian guidance puts a four-week ceiling on that use. Mauritius is a 1949 Geneva Convention party but not a 1968 Vienna party, so a 1949-model IDP is the treaty-matching companion document and is worth carrying if your licence is not in English or French. Driving is on the left, the drink-drive threshold is among the strictest anywhere (9 microgrammes per 100 ml of breath) and penalties run to imprisonment. Residents have a separate published police conversion route requiring a permit valid for at least six months. 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:

• 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 Mauritius? Mauritius's official IDPs are issued by Traffic Branch, Mauritius Police Force. 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 Mauritius? Rules for new residents

Residents, workers and permit holders can apply to convert an eligible foreign licence into a Mauritian domestic licence through the Mauritius Police Force Traffic Branch Licensing Office. This is a residence-based route and is a separate clock from the visitor rule - do not read its six-month permit-validity condition as a visitor allowance. Official source.

Driving rules in Mauritius tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry your licence and identification, plus rental and insurance paperwork if you have hired the car. Use seat belts and appropriate child restraints.
• Drink-driving: The prescribed limit published by the Mauritius Police Force is 9 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 ml of breath, or 20 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. That blood figure is exactly one quarter of the England and Wales limit of 80 mg/100 ml, which corroborates UK guidance describing the Mauritian threshold as a quarter of England's legal limit. Canadian guidance describes the country as operating a zero-tolerance policy in practice. The only safe rule is no alcohol at all before driving. First conviction: fine of not less than Rs 20,000 and not more than Rs 50,000, imprisonment of up to 5 years, and disqualification from driving for at least 12 months. Subsequent conviction: fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000, imprisonment of not less than 12 months and not more than 8 years, and cancellation of the licence for at least 24 months.
• Speed limits: The Police enforcement page publishes penalties rather than the general limits: Rs 2,500 for exceeding the limit by not more than 15 km/h, Rs 5,000 for more than 15 but not more than 25 km/h, and Rs 10,000 for more than 25 km/h. Obey posted limits and slow down on narrow, unlit or rain-affected roads.
• Traffic drives on the left.
• Carry your driving licence with you when driving. Local authorities may ask to see identification at any time, so carry valid ID or a photocopy.
• Accidents are common. Motorbikes are slow and often do not use headlights at night. Some roads are narrow and do not have pavements.
• During a cyclone you are not allowed to leave your accommodation, and car insurance policies often become invalid.
• Hire car companies often have stricter requirements than the law: a year of driving experience, a higher minimum age and holding an IDP.

Read more about driving in Mauritius

Watch what driving in Mauritius looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Government of Canada travel advice for Mauritius: 'You can drive in Mauritius with a valid Canadian driver's licence for up to four weeks.'
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, Mauritius accession 13 May 1959
5. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (Mauritius absent from participant list)
6. UK FCDO Mauritius - photocard accepted, hire-car conditions, road and cyclone warnings, alcohol
7. Mauritius Police - speeding penalty bands
8. UK FCDO Mauritius - emergency service numbers
9. Netherlands government travel advice - Dutch licence valid in Mauritius
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic