International Driving Permit in Pakistan

🗓 We could not independently verify the road-traffic law for Pakistan; facts here rely on official travel guidance where available. 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 Pakistan: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Pakistan?
• What side of the road does Pakistan drive on?
• How long can you drive in Pakistan with a foreign licence?
• Is Pakistan a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Pakistan with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Pakistan? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Pakistan tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Pakistan
• Sources

Driving in Pakistan: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Pakistan?

Pakistan acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (1986) and is not a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention, so the 1968 IDP is the only permit type with a treaty basis here; the official UK IDP table lists Pakistan as "1968". Pakistan's own road-traffic law does not settle what a visitor must carry. The Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 lets no one drive in a public place unless he "holds an effective licence authorising him to drive the vehicle" (s. 3(1)), and it gives effect to licences issued elsewhere in Pakistan (s. 10(2)). Neither the Ordinance, the Motor Vehicles Rules 1969 nor the National Highways Safety Ordinance 2000, which governs national highways, mentions a licence issued outside Pakistan or an international driving permit, so none of them makes an IDP a condition of driving, and none says a foreign licence is enough on its own: check with the traffic police or the licensing authority of the province before you drive. UK government advice tells UK licence holders they need both the 1968 IDP and their UK licence with them in the car; Canadian government advice is: "You should carry an International Driving Permit." Important gap: drivers from 1949-only countries (USA, Japan, Australia, etc.) cannot obtain a 1968 IDP at home; how Pakistani police treat a 1949 IDP is unverified — carry the original licence plus a certified English translation as a backup.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: Pakistan's Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 requires an effective licence (s. 3(1)) and gives effect to licences issued in Pakistan (s. 10), but names no foreign licence or IDP, so it does not settle whether a visitor may drive on one. Check with the authorities before you travel; the answer below says what is known.

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

What side of the road does Pakistan drive on?

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

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

No statutory maximum period for driving in Pakistan on a foreign licence + 1968 IDP could be verified. Practical outer bounds: a 1968 IDP is valid at most until the holder takes up normal residence in Pakistan (1968 Convention Art. 41), and driving is in any case tied to a valid immigration status and a valid home licence. Anyone staying long-term should move to a provincial Pakistani licence. (1968 Vienna Convention Art. 41 (outer bound only); no Pakistani source retrievable)

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

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

Pakistan 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 19 Mar 1986.

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 province or territory

In Pakistan the finding is the absence. Licensing is provincial — seven authorities, each with its own system — but neither the Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 nor the Motor Vehicles Rules 1969 says anything about a visiting foreigner's licence, and neither mentions an international permit for an inbound driver. One capital-territory order is the only written instruction that exists.

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

This answer is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Pakistan as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Pakistan is a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention only (not the 1949 Geneva Convention), so the 1968 International Driving Permit is the document with a treaty basis; the UK government's IDP table lists Pakistan as "1968" and its travel advice tells UK licence holders to carry both the 1968 IDP and their UK licence, warning that without the correct documents "you could be detained and a police report could be registered in your name." Traffic drives on the left, licensing is run by the provinces rather than federally, and large parts of the country carry advise-against-travel warnings with mandatory advance permissions or police escorts — all of which must be checked route by route. 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).

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 answer below says what could not be confirmed.

What you need to carry — Check with local authorities before travel

Why — Pakistan's Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 requires an effective licence (s. 3(1)) and gives effect to licences issued in Pakistan (s. 10), but names no foreign licence or IDP, so it does not settle whether a visitor may drive on one. [1]

Sources and notes for the answer above

[1] Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965 (W.P. Ord. XIX of 1965), ss. 2(16), 3(1) and 10; National Highways Safety Ordinance, 2000, ss. 3 and 9

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 Pakistan? Pakistan's official IDPs are issued by ICT Administration (Islamabad) and Automobile Association of Pakistan (AAP). 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 Pakistan? Rules for new residents

Driving on a foreign licence + IDP is a visitor arrangement only. Anyone living in Pakistan should obtain a licence from the competent provincial or territorial licensing authority (Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir). Official source.

Driving rules in Pakistan tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry the original national licence, photo ID/passport with visa, vehicle registration, insurance, and any route permission document; UK government advice to UK licence holders adds a 1968 IDP, and Canadian government advice is to carry an IDP. Carry water, fuel and warm clothing on northern mountain routes.
• Drink-driving: No published national blood-alcohol limit for drivers could be verified. Alcohol is broadly prohibited in Pakistan (non-Muslim foreigners need a permit to buy or consume it), so the operative advice is zero alcohol before driving — not a numeric BAC threshold. Unverified. Penalties depend on the province and on whether alcohol-prohibition offences apply alongside traffic offences; detention and prosecution are realistic outcomes.
• Speed limits: Traffic drives on the left (confirmed by Canadian government travel advice). Posted km/h limits apply and differ between motorways, national highways and urban roads; no verified national limit table. Expect police checkpoints, sudden route closures and, in some areas, mandatory escorts.
• FCDO advises against all travel to Balochistan province, to areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including parts around Peshawar, Swat, North Waziristan and a section of the Karakoram Highway), to within 10 miles of the Afghanistan border and to within 10 miles of the Line of Control; and against all but essential travel to Azad Jammu & Kashmir, parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Malakand, Mardan, Nowshera, Shangla, Swabi), Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab, Sindh north of and including Nawabshah, and within 5 miles of the India border. Insurance is commonly void in advise-against-travel areas.
• FCDO, verbatim: "You must obtain advance permission from local or federal authorities to travel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan and several districts in Azad Kashmir." It also notes: "In areas of higher risk, local authorities sometimes arrange police escorts for your own protection." (These permissions are commonly referred to locally as an NOC — No Objection Certificate — but that term is not used on the FCDO page).
• FCDO, verbatim: "Outside of the major motorways, the quality of roads is variable. Road conditions can be poor." and "Many roads, including the N15 highway between Chilas and Babusar in Gilgit Baltistan, are inaccessible at some times of the year." Seasonal closures, landslides and weather routinely block northern routes; hiring an experienced local driver for mountain roads is the common practice.
• IDPs cannot be bought once you have left home. FCDO, verbatim: "You cannot buy an IDP outside the UK, so get one before you travel." The same logic applies to most issuing countries — obtain the permit before departure.

Read more about driving in Pakistan

• 10 Interesting Facts About Pakistan
• Best Places to Visit in Pakistan

Watch what driving in Pakistan looks like

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

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Sources

1. Resident licence conversion rule
2. GOV.UK Pakistan travel advice — 1968 IDP + home licence requirement, detention/police-report warning, road conditions, route permissions
3. Official UK IDP table — row reads "Pakistan | 1968"
4. GOV.UK Pakistan — advise-against-all-travel and all-but-essential-travel areas
5. GOV.UK Pakistan — emergency numbers 1122 (ambulance and fire) and 15 (police)
6. Government of Canada travel advice — "Vehicles drive on the left"; "You should carry an International Driving Permit"
7. UN Treaty Collection XI-B-19 — Pakistan listed as a party to the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic (accession reported 19 March 1986; PDF not machine-readable on 29 July 2026, party status taken from the Wikipedia parties list)
8. 1949 Geneva Convention parties list — Pakistan does not appear; confirms 1949 IDPs have no treaty basis in Pakistan
9. Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 (W.P. Ord. XIX of 1965), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police text — licences: ss. 2(16), 3 and 10
10. Motor Vehicles Rules 1969, Punjab Transport Department text (archived copy) — licensing of drivers: Chapter II
11. National Highways Safety Ordinance 2000 (Ordinance XL of 2000), National Highways and Motorway Police text — licences: s. 3
12. ICT Administration (Islamabad) and Automobile Association of Pakistan (AAP) — authorized IDP issuer in Pakistan
13. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
14. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic