International Driving Permit in Micronesia

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

Driving in Micronesia: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Micronesia?

The Federated States of Micronesia is a party to neither the 1949 nor the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic (UN Treaty Collection, chapters XI-B-1 and XI-B-19), so an IDP has no legal standing there. None is needed: the state motor-vehicle codes let any visitor already licensed in their home state, territory or country drive for 30 days on that licence alone. Carry an IDP or an English translation only as a practical aid if your licence is not in English or Latin script.

• 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: The 30 days run from entry into each state, so island-hopping does not give you a single national allowance. Pohnpei, the state with the capital and the busiest airport, has no code available online, so ask the Pohnpei state police or your rental firm before driving there.

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

What side of the road does Micronesia drive on?

Micronesia drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Traffic drives on the right, but many vehicles are right-hand-drive imports from Japan.

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

30 days from entry into the state. Kosrae: "A license issued by another jurisdiction is valid within the State for thirty days following the licensee's entry into the State" (s.17.301). Yap and Chuuk use the same rule for "a nonresident over the age of 16 years who has been duly licensed as an operator in his home state, territory or country" and who carries the licence. After 30 days a licence from that state is required. Note the clock runs per state, not for the country as a whole, and the Pohnpei rule could not be verified. (Kosrae State Code s.17.301; Yap State Code title 25 s.302; Chuuk State Code title 31 s.1102)

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

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

Micronesia is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Micronesia, and convention rules do not bind it — licence acceptance is governed purely by local law and bilateral arrangements.

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.

The rule in each state

Micronesia licenses drivers state by state and is party to neither road-traffic convention, so an International Driving Permit carries no legal weight here. It is not needed: every state code lets a visitor drive on the licence they already hold. What the codes do not share is the age at which that begins — and the thirty days run from entry into each state, so island-hopping does not spend one national allowance.

Can you drive in Micronesia with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Micronesia as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Micronesia licenses drivers state by state, not nationally, and it is a party to neither road-traffic convention, so an IDP carries no legal weight. The Kosrae, Yap and Chuuk codes all let a visitor already licensed in any country drive on that licence for 30 days from entry; after that a licence from that state is needed. The Pohnpei code is not published online, so confirm locally before driving there. 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 — 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.
• IDP or translation — your national licence needs a supporting document alongside it. Which ones the destination accepts, and whether an official IDP can be issued for your licence at all, are in the row for your country of issue, in the table below.
• 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] Kosrae State Code s.17.301; Yap State Code title 25 s.302; Chuuk State Code title 31 s.1102 (Pohnpei code not available online)

[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 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 Micronesia? Rules for new residents

Licensing is a state matter, not a national one: after the 30-day visitor window a resident must hold a licence issued by the FSM state where they live (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei or Kosrae). There is no FSM-wide driving licence. Official source.

Driving rules in Micronesia tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Motorcycle helmets are compulsory for rider and passenger: "It is unlawful for a person to operate a motorcycle on a highway unless he and any passenger on the vehicle wears a safety helmet securely fastened with a chin strap" (Chuuk title 31 s.1170). Carry your licence in your immediate possession, plus ID, insurance papers and a spare tyre. No seat-belt mandate was found in the Chuuk traffic chapter.
• Drink-driving: No numeric blood-alcohol limit is set in the statutes checked. Kosrae defines the offence purely by condition: "Driving under the influence is driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic drink or a controlled substance or any other intoxicating substance" (s.13.710, a category 1 misdemeanour). With no numeric threshold to argue over, treat the limit as zero. Kosrae grades driving under the influence as a category 1 misdemeanour (s.13.710), the most serious misdemeanour class, without a dollar figure in that section. In Yap the general motor-vehicle penalty of $5 to $500 and/or 5 to 30 days applies unless a specific provision says otherwise (title 25 s.701).
• Speed limits: Chuuk sets 15 mph passing a school building, 20 mph in any business or residential district and 25 mph outside a business or residential district (title 31 s.1161). Other states set their own limits; 25 mph is effectively the ceiling on most island roads.
• Your own national licence is enough for the first 30 days in Kosrae, Yap and Chuuk, whatever country issued it. Keep it in your immediate possession while driving, as the statutes require.
• The 30 days run from entry into each state, so island-hopping does not give you a single national allowance. Pohnpei, the state with the capital and the busiest airport, has no code available online, so ask the Pohnpei state police or your rental firm before driving there.
• Drive on the right: "the driver of a vehicle shall drive that vehicle upon the right half of the highway except when the right half is impassable or when overtaking" (Chuuk title 31 s.1156).
• Roads are often poor, unlit and unsigned, and roadside assistance is scarce. Avoid night driving, watch for pedestrians and animals, and carry a spare tyre.

Read more about driving in Micronesia

• Best Places to Visit in Micronesia

Watch what driving in Micronesia looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Kosrae State Code s.17.301; Yap State Code title 25 s.302; Chuuk State Code title 31 s.1102
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Chuuk State Code title 31 ch.3 (Licensing of Operators) — s.1102 nonresident exemption
5. Chuuk State Code title 31 ch.4 (Traffic Regulations) — s.1156 right-hand driving, s.1161 speeds, s.1170 helmets
6. Kosrae State Code title 13 ch.7 (Motor Vehicle Offenses) — s.13.702, s.13.710
7. UK FCDO travel advice — emergency number 911 (ambulance, fire, police)
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Convention on Road Traffic participants (Micronesia absent)
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic