International Driving Permit in Sint Maarten

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

Driving in Sint Maarten: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Sint Maarten?

Article 107(1) of the Wegenverkeersverordening disapplies the domestic-licence requirement of article 87(1) for a driver 'buiten Sint Maarten woonachtige' (resident outside Sint Maarten) who uses a valid international driving permit issued under article 24 of the Geneva Convention of 19 September 1949. Article 107(2) equates with that IDP a licence 'afgegeven door het bevoegde gezag van Staten of samenstellende delen daarvan aangesloten bij voormeld verdrag, voor zover door de Minister van Justitie niet anders wordt bepaald' — so the national licence of a 1949 Convention state is by itself a lawful basis and no IDP is legally required. Only the 1949 Geneva Convention is named: a 1968 Vienna IDP has no statutory recognition in Sint Maarten. Article 107(3) goes further for the Kingdom — licences issued in the Netherlands, Aruba or Curacao (and licences issued in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba before 10 October 2010) are equated with Sint Maarten licences outright. Drivers from states outside the 1949 Convention have no automatic route and depend on the discretionary article 108 temporary permit or on rental-company acceptance.

• 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.
• Car renters: Carry the original licence — art. 87(1) requires the driver to have it on him, and art. 117(1) obliges him to hand any permit over for proper inspection on an officer's first demand. Carry passport, rental agreement, registration and insurance papers too, and confirm whether the operator additionally requires a 1949 IDP.

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

What side of the road does Sint Maarten drive on?

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

How long can you drive in Sint Maarten with a foreign licence?

No fixed day-count for visitors. Art. 107 recognition is tied to residence, not to a clock: it applies to a driver resident outside Sint Maarten and lasts as long as the recognised foreign licence remains valid. The three-month figure belongs to a different instrument — the art. 108 'tijdelijke rijvergunning', a permit the Minister of Justice may grant, valid 'voor ten hoogste drie maanden, gerekend van de dag van afgifte af, doch nimmer langer dan voor de geldigheidsduur van het overlegde buitenlandse rijbewijs'. It is not an automatic three-month tourist allowance and it is not the visitor clock. (Wegenverkeersverordening arts. 107 and 108)

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

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

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

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: applies via Netherlands (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 Sint Maarten with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Sint Maarten as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Sint Maarten applies its own Wegenverkeersverordening, not Netherlands or EU licence law. Article 107 lets a driver resident outside Sint Maarten use either a 1949 Geneva Convention IDP or — equated with it — the national licence of a 1949 Convention state, so for most visitors no IDP is legally required, and only the 1949 type is recognised (a 1968 Vienna IDP is not). Licences from the Netherlands, Aruba and Curacao are treated as domestic outright. Everyone else has no automatic route and depends on a discretionary local permit of up to three months under article 108. 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.
• 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.
• 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] Wegenverkeersverordening Sint Maarten, article 107(3) — licences issued in the Netherlands, Aruba or Curacao (and licences issued in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba before 10 October 2010) are equated with Sint Maarten licences outright

[2] 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 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 Sint Maarten? Rules for new residents

Two different clocks. The art. 107 visitor route depends on being resident outside Sint Maarten; once a person settles here and is entered in the basic administration (basisadministratie), the domestic-licence regime of arts. 87-89 applies and a Sint Maarten licence is needed. Official source.

Driving rules in Sint Maarten tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts are compulsory for the driver and the passengers seated beside him (art. 63(3)); other passengers must also use available belts. Passengers under 12 who are shorter than 1.50 m need an approved child restraint, and children aged 0-3 must always use one. Crash helmets with a proper chin strap are mandatory for riders and pillion passengers on motorcycles and mopeds (art. 59A(1)). The ordinance imposes no warning-triangle or hi-vis-vest duty. Monitor hurricane and flood alerts in season.
• Drink-driving: Sint Maarten law sets no numeric BAC figure. Art. 6 bans driving 'terwijl hij verkeert onder zodanige invloed van het gebruik van alcoholhoudende drank of andere bedwelmende middelen dat hij niet in staat moet worden geacht het voertuig naar behoren te besturen' — an impairment test, not an mg/ml threshold. UK FCDO describes the enforcement threshold as 'more than two-thirds the legal limit for England and Wales' (England and Wales is 80 mg/100 ml, implying roughly 53 mg/100 ml), but no local metric figure is published anywhere official. Treat any specific number seen online as unsourced. Art. 6 breaches are misdrijven (crimes) under art. 119(1): up to two months' detention or a second-category fine of NAf 5,000 (about US$2,800). UK FCDO: 'you could get a fine and possible imprisonment.' A court can additionally impose a driving disqualification under the separate Landsverordening on civil-law consequences of collisions and disqualification from driving.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right. Statutory general limits under art. 12(1): 30 km/h inside built-up areas ('binnen bebouwde kommen') and 50 km/h outside built-up areas ('buiten bebouwde kommen'), unless a sign sets a different maximum or minimum. Art. 53(1) adds a duty to keep speed such that the vehicle can stop within the visible, clear distance ahead.
• Carry the original licence — art. 87(1) requires the driver to have it on him, and art. 117(1) obliges him to hand any permit over for proper inspection on an officer's first demand. Carry passport, rental agreement, registration and insurance papers too, and confirm whether the operator additionally requires a 1949 IDP.
• French Saint-Martin is a separate jurisdiction (a French overseas collectivity) with its own traffic and insurance rules, even though the land boundary is open. Rental and insurance terms often restrict cross-border driving, so check them in writing before crossing.
• Drive on the right. UK FCDO: 'Main roads are in relatively good condition. Roads can become slippery in wet weather and potholes can appear, especially on unsurfaced roads.' and 'Be alert in traffic on St Maarten, as it can be crowded and lacks traffic signs'.
• Heavy plant is banned from public roads on working days 06:30-08:30 and 12:00-14:00 (art. 60A) — expect congestion shifts around those windows.

Read more about driving in Sint Maarten

Watch what driving in Sint Maarten looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. Wetboek van Strafrecht (Sint Maarten) — art. 1:54 fine categories, geldend van 19-11-2019 t/m heden
4. UK FCDO St Maarten — road conditions and alcohol enforcement
5. UK FCDO St Maarten — emergency numbers
6. UK FCDO St Maarten — entry requirements (open boundary with French St Martin)
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic