International Driving Permit in Peru

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

Driving in Peru: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Peru?

Peru does not require an IDP from a visitor. Article 6(c) of the Reglamento Nacional del Sistema de Emision de Licencias de Conducir (D.S. 007-2016-MTC) makes a valid foreign licence issued in conformity with a road-traffic convention Peru has ratified usable on its own for up to six months from the date of entry. Article 6(d) separately recognises international driving permits issued abroad under those conventions. Peru acceded to both the 1949 Geneva Convention (9 Jul 1957) and the 1968 Vienna Convention (6 Oct 2006), so both the 1949 and the 1968 IDP are covered by Article 6(d). An IDP is still the practical fix for an old-format, paper or non-Latin-script licence whose conformity with the convention licence model an officer may question.

• 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 Peru drive on?

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

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

Up to six (6) months counted from the date of entry into Peru, on a valid foreign licence issued in conformity with a convention Peru has ratified. The clock runs from entry, not from the licence's own expiry and not from each new document; lawful immigration status must of course subsist throughout. (D.S. 007-2016-MTC art. 6(c): 'Las licencias expedidas en otros paises que se encuentren vigentes y que hayan sido expedidas de conformidad con los Convenios Internacionales suscritos y ratificados por el Peru, podran ser utilizadas por un plazo maximo de seis (6) meses contados a partir de la fecha de ingreso al pais.')

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

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

Peru is a Contracting Party to both United Nations Conventions on Road Traffic — the Geneva Convention of 19 September 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 8 November 1968. International Driving Permits of both the 1949 and the 1968 type are therefore issued against its framework; which types Peru accepts from visitors is shown in the table above.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 9 Jul 1957.
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 6 Oct 2006.

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 Peru with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Peru as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Peru recognises a valid foreign driving licence issued under the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna Convention for up to six months counted from the date you enter the country - no International Driving Permit is legally required on top of it. Peru is a party to both conventions, so both the 1949 and the 1968 IDP are accepted, and an IDP is worth carrying if your licence is old-format, paper or in a non-Latin script. Always carry the original licence and your passport, and if you settle in Peru, exchange your licence at MTC rather than relying on the visitor allowance. 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:

• Treaty recognises licence — IDP advised — the 1949 Geneva Convention obliges this destination to recognise your national licence, and separately allows a destination to require a 1949-type IDP; this row states the treaty position and does not settle which of the two this destination chose, so carrying an IDP is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis.
• Treaty recognises licence + IDP — advised — the 1968 Vienna Convention obliges this destination to recognise a national licence conforming to Annex 6 of that Convention, and separately an IDP presented together with the national licence it belongs to; this row does not record whether your own licence conforms to Annex 6, and the licence-and-IDP pair is recognised either way, so carrying both is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis.
• 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 Peru? Peru's official IDPs are issued by Touring y Automovil Club del Peru (TACP) — applications are accepted online. 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 Peru? Rules for new residents

A visitor's six-month clock runs from the date of entry and does not renew by leaving and re-entering as a resident. Someone settling in Peru should hold a carne de extranjeria and move to a Peruvian licence via the canje procedure rather than relying on the Article 6(c) visitor route. These are two different clocks: Article 6(c) is a visitor allowance measured from entry; the resident route is an exchange procedure with no time allowance of its own. Official source.

Driving rules in Peru tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry the original foreign licence, the passport or carne de extranjeria, an IDP if your licence is old-format, paper or non-Latin-script, plus the vehicle registration and SOAT insurance certificate. Add altitude and remote-road supplies for Andean and jungle routes.
• Drink-driving: 0.5 g of alcohol per litre of blood (0.05%) for a private vehicle and 0.25 g/l (0.025%) for a public-service vehicle are the thresholds at which driving becomes a criminal offence under article 274 of the Peruvian Penal Code. Zero is the only safe figure. Article 274 of the Penal Code carries a custodial sentence of six months to two years for a private-vehicle driver at or above 0.5 g/l, and one to three years for a public-vehicle driver at or above 0.25 g/l, alongside administrative disqualification. Refusing the dosaje etilico (breath/blood test) is itself an offence and, combined with fleeing the scene, can compound into a much longer sentence. Source: Poder Judicial press statement, 2 May 2024.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right. Statutory limits under the TUO del Reglamento Nacional de Transito: in urban areas 40 km/h on streets and jirones, 60 km/h on avenues, 80 km/h on expressways, and 30 km/h in school and hospital zones; on highways 100 km/h for cars, pickups and motorcycles, 90 km/h for public passenger transport and motorhomes, 80 km/h for goods vehicles, 70 km/h for dangerous-goods and school transport; 60 km/h on rural roads; and 35 km/h where a highway crosses a commercial zone of a populated centre.
• Always carry your passport, or your carne de extranjeria if you are a resident, when driving. Carry the original licence itself as well - an IDP is never valid on its own.
• Take particular care driving near protests, and never attempt to pass a blockade. Demonstrations close roads and border crossings at short notice.
• Driving standards are poor, stop signs and traffic lights are often ignored, and fatal crashes are frequent. Criminals target cars stopped at traffic lights, so keep doors locked and windows shut while driving. Bus crashes are common, especially at night; avoid overnight travel in mountainous and remote regions where possible.

Read more about driving in Peru

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

Watch what driving in Peru looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. D.S. 007-2016-MTC art. 6(c): 'Las licencias expedidas en otros paises que se encuentren vigentes y que hayan sido expedidas de conformidad con los Convenios Internacionales suscritos y ratificados por el Peru, podran ser utilizadas por un plazo maximo de seis (6) meses contados a partir de la fecha de ingreso al pais.'
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Primary. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: Peru accession 9 Jul 1957.
5. Primary. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: Peru accession 6 Oct 2006 (91 parties).
6. Peruvian foreign ministry (Cancilleria) - reciprocal recognition and licence-exchange agreements in force with Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Spain and South Korea; Argentina signed, implementation pending. Residents' exchange only - not a visitor recognition list.
7. Official Peruvian government emergency-number list - police 105, SAMU 106, fire 116, highway police 110, civil defence 115.
8. Poder Judicial (Peruvian judiciary), 2 May 2024 - art. 274 Penal Code thresholds: 0.5 g/l private vehicle (6 months-2 years), 0.25 g/l public vehicle (1-3 years).
9. UK FCDO Peru travel advice - six-month photocard rule, carry passport or carne de extranjeria, protest blockades, poor driving standards, vehicle crime at traffic lights.
10. UK gov.uk IDP table - lists Peru under '1968'. Note: this states which IDP a UK driver needs for Peru, not Peru's full treaty membership.
11. UK FCDO Peru - emergency numbers (ambulance 106, fire 116, police 105). Does not list 110, which was corroborated separately from gob.pe.
12. Touring y Automovil Club del Peru (TACP) — authorized IDP issuer in Peru
13. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
14. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic