International Driving Permit in Seychelles

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

Driving in Seychelles: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Seychelles?

Seychelles' Road Transport (Recognition of Foreign Driving Permits) Regulations (S.I. 49 of 1967, reg. 3) let a person resident outside Seychelles drive, for three months from their last entry, any vehicle they are authorised to drive by either a domestic driving permit issued in a country outside Seychelles or a convention driving permit. The regulations define a convention driving permit as the IDP of the 1949 Geneva Convention (or of the 1926 Paris Convention, if issued by a country party to it but not to the 1949 one); they do not name the 1968 Vienna IDP, and they name no translation or language requirement. UK government advice is that a UK paper licence may need to be updated to a photocard licence or carried with a 1968 IDP, and that hire car companies often have stricter requirements, such as a year of driving experience, a higher minimum age and holding an IDP.

• 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: A rental firm may hire out a self-drive car only after satisfying itself that you hold a valid Seychelles licence, or a valid licence or permit under the Road Transport (Recognition of Foreign Driving Permits) Regulations, and must give you a signed and dated certificate saying so (Road Transport (Self-Drive Hire Vehicles) Regulations, reg. 3). UK government advice is that hire car companies often have stricter requirements, such as a year of driving experience, a higher minimum age and holding an IDP. Traffic keeps to the left (Road Transport Regulations, reg. 66), and a driver who fails to produce their licence when a police officer demands it commits an offence (Road Transport Act, s. 24(1)(f)).

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

What side of the road does Seychelles drive on?

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

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

Three months from your last entry into Seychelles, for a person resident outside Seychelles (Road Transport (Recognition of Foreign Driving Permits) Regulations, reg. 3). (Road Transport (Recognition of Foreign Driving Permits) Regulations (S.I. 49 of 1967), reg. 3(1))

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

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

Seychelles is a Contracting Party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, but not to the 1949 Geneva Convention.

• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 11 Apr 1977.

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 Seychelles with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Seychelles as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Seychelles is a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and drives on the left. Its Road Transport (Recognition of Foreign Driving Permits) Regulations let a person resident outside Seychelles drive for three months from their last entry on a domestic driving permit issued in a country outside Seychelles, or on a 1949 Geneva IDP, and name no translation requirement. UK government advice is that hire car companies often have stricter requirements, such as a year of driving experience, a higher minimum age and holding an IDP. 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] Road Transport (Recognition of Foreign Driving Permits) Regulations (S.I. 49 of 1967), reg. 3

[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 Seychelles? Seychelles's official IDPs are issued by Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA). 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 Seychelles? Rules for new residents

Seychelles law lets a person resident outside Seychelles drive on a foreign licence for three months from their last entry (S.I. 49 of 1967, reg. 3); beyond that, and for anyone resident in Seychelles, the Road Transport Act requires a driving licence (s. 12(1)), which is a licence issued by the Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA) (s. 2, as amended by Act 14 of 2023). Official source.

Driving rules in Seychelles tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry the licence and vehicle documents, use seat belts and child restraints, and choose a vehicle and tyres suited to steep, wet roads.
• Drink-driving: The limit is 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, 35 micrograms in 100 ml of breath or 107 mg in 100 ml of urine (Road Transport (Sober Driving) Regulations, Schedule). Above it you are unfit to drive and may not drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle on a road (reg. 3(1)). Driving over the limit, refusing a breath test or a blood or urine specimen without reasonable excuse, or evading a test is an offence (reg. 9(1)) punishable under s. 24(2) of the Road Transport Act, as amended in 2023, by up to 3 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to level 3 on the Standard Scale (SCR 50,000 under the Criminal Offences (Standard Scale of Fines) Act, 2021, Schedule 1), or both. On a second such conviction within six months the court must suspend the licence and disqualify the driver for at least 12 months unless it finds special reasons (reg. 9(2)).
• Speed limits: Drive on the left (Road Transport Regulations, reg. 66). The limits are 80 km/h on any road on Mahé, 65 km/h on Praslin and 25 km/h on La Digue (reg. 76), subject to limits set under s. 22 of the Road Transport Act, which traffic signs show. Slow well before bends, sheer drops, uncovered storm drains, pedestrians, buses, rain and potholes.
• A rental firm may hire out a self-drive car only after satisfying itself that you hold a valid Seychelles licence, or a valid licence or permit under the Road Transport (Recognition of Foreign Driving Permits) Regulations, and must give you a signed and dated certificate saying so (Road Transport (Self-Drive Hire Vehicles) Regulations, reg. 3). UK government advice is that hire car companies often have stricter requirements, such as a year of driving experience, a higher minimum age and holding an IDP. Traffic keeps to the left (Road Transport Regulations, reg. 66), and a driver who fails to produce their licence when a police officer demands it commits an offence (Road Transport Act, s. 24(1)(f)).
• UK government advice: Mahé is mountainous, and roads are narrow and winding, often with sheer drops and hairpin bends; not all such roads are equipped with safety barriers, and deep, uncovered storm drains flank many roads.
• UK government advice: sudden heavy downpours can reduce visibility and road surface conditions quickly, and potholes can appear suddenly after heavy rains; drink-driving is a problem, so other road users may behave erratically.

Read more about driving in Seychelles

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. UK FCDO Seychelles licence and road-safety guidance
4. UK FCDO Seychelles emergency numbers — '999 (ambulance, fire, police)'
5. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic; Seychelles accession 11 Apr 1977, in force for Seychelles 11 Apr 1978
6. Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA) — authorized IDP issuer in Seychelles
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic