International Driving Permit in Panama

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

Driving in Panama: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Panama?

No IDP is required or recognised as such. Panama is a party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna road-traffic convention (checked against the UN depositary status lists), so no IDP issued under those conventions has any legal standing in Panama. Article 110 of Decreto Ejecutivo 640 de 2006 grants the driving right directly: a foreigner entering as a tourist may drive on a valid licence from their own country for 90 days. Carry the home licence itself — an IDP alone is not a licence and homologation rules expressly exclude international permits. An IDP or Spanish translation remains a sensible courtesy document if your licence is not in the Latin alphabet, but that is practice, not law.

• 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.

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

What side of the road does Panama drive on?

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

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

90 days from the date of entry, driving on a valid licence issued by your own country. The period cannot be extended ('tampoco podran obtener licencia ni permiso para conducir en virtud de prorroga'), and a tourist cannot obtain a Panamanian licence or permit. Carry a copy of the passport page with the dated entry stamp as proof you are still within the period. (Decreto Ejecutivo 640 de 2006, art. 110; entry-stamp practice per current UK government Panama road guidance)

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

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

Panama is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Panama, 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 Panama with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Panama as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Panama lets a visitor from any country drive on a valid licence issued by their own country for 90 days from entry — there is no approved-country list, no treaty gate and no IDP requirement. That right comes from Article 110 of Decreto Ejecutivo 640 de 2006. Panama belongs to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna convention, so an IDP has no legal standing here; bring the licence itself. The 90 days cannot be extended and a tourist cannot obtain a Panamanian licence, so a longer stay means residency first. 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] Decreto Ejecutivo 640 de 2006 (Reglamento de Transito Vehicular), art. 110 — 'Los extranjeros que ingresen a la Republica de Panama en calidad de turistas ... solamente podran conducir vehiculos con licencia vigente de su pais de origen por un periodo de noventa (90) dias.'

[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 Panama? Panama's IDPs are issued by Autoridad del Transito y Transporte Terrestre (ATTT) and Automovil Club de Panama. Official site. Panama is party to neither road-traffic convention, so the permit is issued outside the UN convention framework and is not an official convention IDP — check that your destination accepts it.
• 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 Panama? Rules for new residents

Two distinct clocks. The 90-day Article 110 clock is a tourist clock, tied to entry as a tourist, and is expressly non-extendable. It is not a residence clock and confers no path to a Panamanian licence — Article 110 states a tourist cannot obtain a licence or permit at all. Once a foreigner holds authorised residence, Article 109 opens the domestic licensing route instead. Secondary source.

Driving rules in Panama tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts: Article 131(a) obliges the driver of any motor vehicle other than a motorcycle to wear the belt and to require passengers to wear it — the duty is not limited to front seats (exempted: passengers of collective, school and tourist transport). Children: Article 127 bars passengers under 5 from the front seat except in single-cab vehicles, and requires a child under 2 travelling alone in the rear to use a properly fixable child seat. UK guidance renders this differently as 'Children aged 4 and under must travel in the back in fitted child seats' — the stricter reading is the safer one to follow. Motorcyclists and cyclists must wear a helmet (art. 131(r)). Carry original vehicle, registration and insurance documents.
• Drink-driving: Not zero-tolerance in law, contrary to a common simplification. Article 141 sets three bands measured in blood or breath: 10-50 mg/dl blood (5-24 ug/dl breath) is the 'nivel de tolerancia', drawing a warning; 51-85 mg/dl (25-40 ug/dl) is 'aliento alcoholico'; 86 mg/dl or more (41+ ug/dl) is 'embriaguez comprobada'. UK government guidance nonetheless warns that 'If you are tested and found to have any alcohol in your system, you may get a fine, have your licence revoked and your car impounded' — treat enforcement as far stricter than the statutory floor and simply do not drink and drive. Warning at the tolerance band; fine at 51-85 mg/dl; fine plus retention of the vehicle at 86 mg/dl or more, with the licence withheld and forwarded to the ATTT and repeat offences weighted against the driver's history (arts. 141, 143). An officer may stop a visibly intoxicated person from driving even without breath-test equipment. Current monetary amounts unverified.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right. Obey posted limits, which are in km/h. Allow extra time for congestion around Panama City and for construction and unfinished repairs.
• Carry the original home-country licence plus a copy of the passport page bearing the dated entry stamp — that stamp is what proves you are still inside the 90 days. Article 125 lets ATTT inspectors and the National Police demand the licence at any time and place, and the licence must match the vehicle class driven.
• After a collision with another driver, stay in your vehicle: 'If you are involved in a traffic accident with another driver, wait inside your vehicle for your insurance representative and the traffic police to arrive'.
• 'Driving standards can be poor. Traffic accidents are common. Roads are often poorly lit and can have potholes and unfinished repairs.' and 'Darien Province and other remote rural areas may have very few surfaced roads'.
• Taxis are flagged as a risk: 'Taxis can be in poor condition and accidents, due to poor maintenance and driving standards, are common. To reduce your risk, use ride-hailing apps or hotel-arranged transport only'.
• A foreign-registered vehicle driven into Panama may circulate for 90 days only if it holds an ATTT circulation permit, and must keep its original title from the country of purchase plus the exit permit from the country of origin.

Read more about driving in Panama

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

Watch what driving in Panama looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. UN depositary status, 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic — Panama absent from the 103 parties
4. UN depositary status, 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic — Panama absent from the parties
5. SERTRACEN — Spain/Panama bilateral licence exchange (residency route, not a visitor right)
6. UK government Panama road, alcohol-enforcement and road-condition guidance
7. UK government Panama emergency numbers (911 / 103 / 104)
8. Autoridad del Transito y Transporte Terrestre (ATTT) and Automovil Club de Panama — authorized IDP issuer in Panama
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic