International Driving Permit in Saint Martin

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

Driving in Saint Martin: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Saint Martin?

Under the French ministerial order (arrêté) of 12 January 2012, art. 3 I D, a non-EU/EEA licence that is not written in French must come with an official French translation; the order names no International Driving Permit alternative and no exemption for British licences. Whether this State order applies in Saint-Martin at all is not established. The government's service-public page states the condition more widely: the licence must be written in French or be accompanied by an IDP (except for a British licence) or by an official translation. The Collectivité de Saint-Martin, which sets the island's road rules, says on its own driving page that a French or international driving licence is required ('Un permis de conduire français ou international est exigé'). These sources do not agree, and no published text settles which of them governs in Saint-Martin, so which document must go with a licence not written in French is not established: check with the Collectivité or the prefecture before you travel. France is party to both the 1949 Geneva and the 1968 Vienna Conventions, but none of these sources says which type of IDP is accepted. EU/EEA licences fall outside the rule entirely.

• 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: Carry the original valid licence. If it is not written in French and is not from an EU/EEA country, official sources differ on what must go with it: the Collectivité's driving page asks for a French or international licence, the ministerial order of 12 January 2012 names only an official French translation, and service-public accepts an IDP or that translation and exempts a British licence from the IDP. Check which applies with the authorities before you travel. Also carry passport or ID, the rental agreement, the vehicle registration document and proof of insurance.
• EU / EEA licence holders: no IDP needed — Article 349 TFEU lists 'Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint-Martin, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands'.

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

What side of the road does Saint Martin drive on?

Saint Martin drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. French side; the whole island (incl. Dutch Sint Maarten) drives on the right.

How long can you drive in Saint Martin with a foreign licence?

A short stay of under 185 days (6 months). The official page is headed 'Peut-on conduire en France avec un permis étranger pendant un court séjour de moins de 6 mois ?' and defines the short stay as 'Séjour inférieur à 185 jours (6 mois)'. Throughout that stay the foreign licence may be used, provided it stays valid and meets the language condition, and provided the driver's normal residence remains outside France. This is a visitor clock and is distinct from the resident clock in the residents section below. (service-public.gouv.fr F1459, short-stay section)

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

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

Saint Martin 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 Saint Martin accepts from visitors is shown in the table above.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: applies via France (territorial application).
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: applies via France (territorial application).

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 Saint Martin with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Saint Martin as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. French Saint Martin is an EU outermost region named in Article 349 TFEU. The Collectivité de Saint-Martin sets its own road-traffic rules (Code général des collectivités territoriales, art. LO6314-3) and on 1 February 2024 adopted the national Code de la route as it stood on 1 January 2024, so a later national change to those rules applies only once the Collectivité adopts it; criminal law stays with the State. EU and EEA licences are valid as issued. Any other national licence may be used for a short stay of under 185 days (6 months) provided it is valid and covers the equivalent category. For a licence not written in French, official sources differ: the ministerial order (arrêté) of 12 January 2012 names only an official French translation, the government's service-public page also accepts an IDP and exempts British licences from it, and the Collectivité's own driving page asks for a French or international licence. Which of them governs in Saint-Martin is not established, so check with the authorities before you travel. There is no approved or treaty-gated list of eligible countries. Dutch Sint Maarten, across the open land border, is a separate jurisdiction for licensing and insurance. 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.
• 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] Arrêté du 12 janvier 2012, art. 3 I D; CGCT art. LO6314-3 I 2°

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 Saint Martin? Saint Martin's official IDPs are issued by Collectivité de Saint-Martin — Service des Titres (Service des Titres de la Collectivité de Saint-Martin). 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 Saint Martin? Rules for new residents

A different clock from the visitor time limit in the key facts above. Once normal residence in France (including Saint Martin) is acquired, a non-EU/EEA licence is 'valable uniquement pendant 1 an' from that date and must be exchanged to keep driving beyond it. A British licence issued before 2021 is the exception: it stays recognised in France while it is valid. Exchange is only possible if the issuing country and the specific category are covered by a reciprocity arrangement; service-public provides a country simulator to check eligibility. Official source.

Driving rules in Saint Martin tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts and approved child restraints are mandatory. Carry licence, ID or passport, rental agreement, vehicle registration and insurance documents. For a licence not written in French from outside the EU/EEA, official sources differ on which document must go with it (an IDP, an official French translation, or either): check before you travel.
• Drink-driving: 0.5 g/L of blood (0.25 mg/L of exhaled air) for most drivers; 0.2 g/L of blood (0.10 mg/L of exhaled air) for probationary and learner drivers, bus and coach drivers, and drivers limited to alcohol-interlock vehicles. The 0.2 g/L limit also applies to the person supervising a learner driver (Code de la route, art. R234-1). Between the applicable limit and 0.8 g/L it is a fourth-class contravention: a fine of up to 750 EUR, usually a fixed fine of 135 EUR, 6 licence points and possible suspension of up to 3 years (Code de la route, art. R234-1). From 0.8 g/L of blood (0.40 mg/L of exhaled air) it is a criminal offence (délit) punished by up to 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to 9,000 EUR (art. L234-1, as amended by Law No. 2026-798 of 18 August 2026), with 6 points and possible licence cancellation or vehicle confiscation. Refusing the alcohol checks carries the same 3 years and 9,000 EUR (art. L234-8).
• Speed limits: Drive on the right and obey posted limits. Saint Martin has no motorways, so French built-up-area and secondary-road limits govern in practice; slow for dense settlements, scooters, pedestrians, flooded sections and damaged surfaces.
• Carry the original valid licence. If it is not written in French and is not from an EU/EEA country, official sources differ on what must go with it: the Collectivité's driving page asks for a French or international licence, the ministerial order of 12 January 2012 names only an official French translation, and service-public accepts an IDP or that translation and exempts a British licence from the IDP. Check which applies with the authorities before you travel. Also carry passport or ID, the rental agreement, the vehicle registration document and proof of insurance.
• The island has an open, uncontrolled land boundary, but Dutch Sint Maarten is a separate legal, licensing and insurance territory. Get the rental firm's written permission and confirm that the insurance covers the Dutch side before crossing. Verify the specific rental contract; this is a commercial practice point, not a statutory rule.
• Drive on the right. Roads are narrow, hilly and congested, with heavy scooter and pedestrian traffic. Monitor prefecture alerts during hurricane season and after heavy rain or flooding.

Read more about driving in Saint Martin

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. Article 349 TFEU: Saint-Martin is an outermost region of the European Union
4. Alcool au volant: 0.5 g/L general limit, 0.2 g/L probationary and learner drivers, sanctions
5. Prefecture of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin: state services, driving-licence section, local alerts
6. Collectivité de Saint-Martin official site: 'Mobilité et transport' and 'Démarches permis de conduire'
7. Service-public news item 'Le 0 800 112 112 : un numéro qui vous rappelle en cas d'urgence' (published 16 Oct 2024, updated 18 Oct 2024), which lists 15, 17, 18, 112, 114
8. UN Treaty Collection: France ratified the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic on 9 December 1971
9. UN Treaty Collection: France ratified the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic on 15 September 1950, extended to French overseas territories on 29 October 1952
10. Collectivité de Saint-Martin, Conduite et transports en commun: a French or international driving licence is required to drive anywhere in the territory
11. Code général des collectivités territoriales, art. LO6314-3: the Collectivité de Saint-Martin sets the rules on road traffic and road transport; art. LO6314-5: criminal law stays with the State
12. Code de la route: art. R221-5 (minimum ages, which also govern the recognition of foreign licences), R234-1 (alcohol limits of 0.2 g/L and 0.5 g/L), L234-1 and L234-8 (drink-driving and refusal offences)
13. Soualiga Post, 28 March 2024: on 1 February 2024 the territorial council adopted the national Code de la route as it stood on 1 January 2024
14. Collectivité de Saint-Martin — Service des Titres — authorized IDP issuer in Saint Martin
15. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
16. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic