International Driving Permit in Samoa

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

Driving in Samoa: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Samoa?

Samoa is a party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna road-traffic convention (per the UN Treaty Collection status lists). No IDP type is a stand-alone driving entitlement here. An IDP is not required, and carrying one does not by itself authorise driving: every international driver must first have their full home licence endorsed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), i.e. buy the temporary driving permit. Where an IDP is presented, it too must be endorsed by the LTA before use.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: your national licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here on their own — for almost every origin, driving requires a document the destination itself issues. The answer below names it; check with the destination’s authorities whether a visitor can obtain one before you travel.
• Car renters: Get the LTA endorsement/temporary permit before driving — rental companies usually arrange it, or obtain it at the LTA in Apia (Vaitele), Samoa Post, or the Samoa Tourism Information Centre. Carry it together with the original home licence.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Foreign-government travel advice.

What side of the road does Samoa drive on?

Samoa drives on the left-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the right. Switched from right to left in 2009 — one of very few countries to switch in modern times.

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

The permit/endorsement is issued in one-month or two-month terms (about WST$21 per month) and may be used for a maximum of 90 days in any one year. Driving beyond that ceiling requires a full Samoan driving licence. (UK FCDO: "You can use the permit for up to 90 days a year. To drive for a longer period, you must get a Samoan driving licence." Samoa Tourism Authority: an endorsed licence "can only be used for a maximum period of 90 days in any one year")

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

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

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

This answer is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Samoa as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Samoa is not a party to either UN road-traffic convention, and no foreign licence — and no International Driving Permit — authorises driving on its own. Every international driver must first obtain a Land Transport Authority temporary permit, an endorsement applied to the full home licence, available from the LTA in Apia, Samoa Post, the tourism information centre or most rental companies for about WST$21 per month. It may be used for at most 90 days in any one year; beyond that a full Samoan licence is required. Samoa drives on the left. 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).

Locally issued document required — a foreign licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here; the destination issues its own document and you must obtain it before you drive.

What you need to carry — LTA temporary driving permit — an endorsement applied to the full home licence (or to an IDP), obtained before driving

Why — A foreign licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here; the destination issues its own document and it must be obtained first [1]

Sources and notes for the answer above

[1] Samoa Tourism Authority driving guidance + UK FCDO Samoa travel advice — Samoa Tourism Authority: "All international drivers are required to get an endorsement on their full drivers' licence before they are allowed to drive in Samoa." UK FCDO: "To drive in Samoa, you must buy a temporary driving permit, which requires your UK driving licence." Available from the LTA in Apia (Vaitele), Samoa Post, the Samoa Tourism Information Centre, or most rental companies; approx. WST$21 per month.

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 Samoa? Rules for new residents

Two different clocks. The visitor clock is the 90-days-in-any-one-year ceiling on the LTA endorsement. Anyone needing to drive beyond that ceiling — including residents — must obtain a full Samoan driving licence from the Land Transport Authority. The 90-day figure is a use-cap on the permit, not a residence clock, and does not by itself establish or terminate residence status. Official source.

Driving rules in Samoa tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry the LTA temporary permit/endorsement plus the original home licence, and the rental and insurance documents. Drive on the left; wear seat belts.
• Drink-driving: Do not drink and drive. Samoa's statutory BAC threshold could not be verified from a current official source — confirm locally before assuming any allowance. Not verified. Police, criminal, licence and insurance consequences can apply.
• Speed limits: 40 km/h in towns and villages; 56 km/h (35 mph) outside, unless a sign requires otherwise.
• Get the LTA endorsement/temporary permit before driving — rental companies usually arrange it, or obtain it at the LTA in Apia (Vaitele), Samoa Post, or the Samoa Tourism Information Centre. Carry it together with the original home licence.
• Samoa drives on the left. It switched from right-hand to left-hand traffic in 2009, so older guidebooks and some rental habits may be out of date.
• Speed limits are 40 km/h in towns and villages and 56 km/h (35 mph) outside them, unless signed otherwise.
• Report any accident to the police within 24 hours.
• Avoid driving at night; roads are poorly lit and children, animals and other hazards are often on the carriageway, especially near villages.

Read more about driving in Samoa

• Best Places to Visit in Samoa

Watch what driving in Samoa looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. UK FCDO Samoa travel advice - Getting help (emergency number 911)
4. Samoa Tourism Authority - Getting a driver's licence (temporary permit mandatory for all international visitors, WST$21/month, 90 days max in any one year)
5. Samoa Tourism Authority - Driving around Samoa (endorsement required of all international drivers; left-hand traffic since 2009)
6. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic status (103 parties; Samoa not a party)
7. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic status (91 parties; Samoa not a party)
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic