International Driving Permit in Palau

🗓 Facts checked against Palau's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 30 October 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 Palau: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Palau?
• What side of the road does Palau drive on?
• How long can you drive in Palau with a foreign licence?
• Is Palau a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Palau with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Palau? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Palau tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Palau
• Sources

Driving in Palau: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Palau?

Palau's Vehicles title names no IDP. It lets a nonresident over the age of 16 who is duly licensed in their home state, territory or country, and carries a valid licence, drive for 30 days from entry without examination; after that a Palauan licence is required, and it is issued without examination (Palau National Code Annotated, Title 42, § 402). The United Nations, depositary of the 1949 and 1968 road-traffic conventions, lists Palau as a party to neither, and Palau is absent from the GOV.UK list of countries requiring a 1926, 1949 or 1968 IDP. Foreign governments' advice differs. The US State Department says only that 'Palau accepts a driver's license issued by a U.S. state or military authority for up to 30 days' and never mentions an IDP. GOV.UK says 'You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in Palau for up to 30 days' and adds: 'If you still have a paper driving licence, you may need to update it to a photocard licence or get the correct version of the international driving permit (IDP) as well.' Australia's Smartraveller says that 'To drive in Palau for up to 30 days, you may need' an International Driving Permit (IDP) and a valid Australian driver's licence, and that 'You must get your IDP before you arrive.' That is advice from those governments to their own travellers; § 402 does not mention an IDP. The Bureau of Public Safety, whose Director issues Palauan licences, is on (680) 488-2423.

• 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: Traffic drives on the right, but most cars are imported from Japan and are built for left-hand traffic, so right-hand-drive controls are common in rentals. Australia's Smartraveller says both configurations are legal. Check the controls and sight lines before you drive away.

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

What side of the road does Palau drive on?

Palau drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Drives on the right, but many imported cars are right-hand drive (from Japan).

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

For 30 days from entry into Palau, on a valid licence from your home state, territory or country, if you are a nonresident over the age of 16. After that a nonresident must hold a Palauan operator's licence, which is issued without examination. Australia's own government tells Australians they may need an IDP alongside the licence for that 30-day window, and that they must get it before they arrive. (Palau National Code Annotated, Title 42, § 402)

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

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

Palau is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Palau, 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.

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

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Palau as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Palau's Vehicles title lets a nonresident over the age of 16 drive for 30 days from entry on a valid licence from their home state, territory or country, carried with them; after that a Palauan licence is required, issued without examination (42 PNCA § 402). The title names no IDP, and the UN, depositary of the 1949 and 1968 road-traffic conventions, lists Palau as a party to neither. Australia's government tells its citizens they may need an IDP, and the UK government points paper-licence holders to one; that is their advice to their own travellers, not Palauan law. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: October 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] Palau National Code Annotated, Title 42 (Vehicles), § 402

[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 Palau? Rules for new residents

Palau's 30-day rule is for nonresidents (42 PNCA § 402). A resident needs a Palauan operator's licence to drive (§ 401(a)), and so does a nonresident who stays beyond 30 days from entry, who gets it without examination. Official source.

Driving rules in Palau tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Drivers and passengers must wear seat belts. Mobile-phone use while driving is not currently restricted by law but is inadvisable. A visitor's 30-day exemption applies only while the valid home licence is in your immediate possession (42 PNCA § 402), and a Palauan licence holder must carry the licence whenever driving (§ 409).
• Drink-driving: Driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, alcohol or narcotic drugs is a misdemeanour (42 PNCA § 514), and a driver whose blood or breath alcohol content is 0.10% is conclusively presumed intoxicated (§ 608). The State Department notes that 'Fatalities caused by driving under the influence are frequent' and the UK notes drink-driving is a common cause of accidents. A first conviction is punished by 1 day to 1 year in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, a one-year licence suspension and up to 60 hours of community service; a second within two years by 20 days to 1 year, up to $2,500, a two-year suspension and up to 120 hours; a third within two years of the second by 90 days to 1 year, up to $5,000, revocation and up to 200 hours (42 PNCA § 514(a)). Refusing a breath or blood test after arrest leads to a six-month revocation of your licence or nonresident operating privilege (§ 606(b)).
• Speed limits: Drive on the right (42 PNCA § 506). Except where the President or the Director of the Bureau of Public Safety has set other limits, the speeds are 15 mph in business and residential districts, 25 mph outside them and 45 mph on the Compact Road, and 10 mph in school zones from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. while school is in session, within 150 feet of a church and when passing processions (§ 511(a)); speed signs show both mph and km/h (§ 503). Speeding is fined up to $200, up to $400 for a second offence within a year and up to $1,000 with licence revocation for a third (§ 511(f)).
• Palau's Vehicles title lets you overtake on the left only when the left side of the road is clearly visible and free of oncoming traffic for 300 feet (42 PNCA § 506), but UK government advice says it is illegal to overtake on Palauan roads and Australia's says overtaking slow vehicles is illegal, so check locally before you overtake. UK advice also warns that drivers often overtake with poor safety awareness.
• Traffic drives on the right, but most cars are imported from Japan and are built for left-hand traffic, so right-hand-drive controls are common in rentals. Australia's Smartraveller says both configurations are legal. Check the controls and sight lines before you drive away.
• There are no traffic lights anywhere in Palau, and roads on the outer islands are often unsealed and impassable after rain without a suitable vehicle.
• UK government advice is to avoid driving after dark, as roads are unlit and you could hit people or livestock. It also says rural signage and hazard warnings are limited, that inland roads can be narrow and, in the summer months, damaged by flooding, and that drink-driving is a common cause of accidents, especially at night and at weekends.

Read more about driving in Palau

• Palau Digital Residency Program
• Best Places to Visit in Palau

Watch what driving in Palau looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. GOV.UK Palau travel advice - Road travel: UK photocard valid 30 days, paper-licence/IDP caveat, overtaking illegal, night-driving and drink-driving warnings
4. US Department of State Palau country information - Traffic Laws (page last updated 19 February 2025)
5. Smartraveller Palau - Driving permit: IDP and Australian licence may be needed for 30 days, obtain IDP before arrival, 40 km/h national limit, overtaking illegal, emergency 911
6. GOV.UK Palau - Emergency services: 'Telephone: 911 (ambulance, fire, police)'
7. GOV.UK IDP country lists (1926 / 1949 / 1968) - Palau does not appear on any of them
8. UN depositary status - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (Palau not listed among the 103 parties)
9. UN depositary status - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (Palau not listed among the 91 parties)
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic