International Driving Permit and a licence from South Sudan: where you need one

🗓 Facts checked against South Sudan's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 2 November 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 South Sudan: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in South Sudan?
• What side of the road does South Sudan drive on?
• How long can you drive in South Sudan with a foreign licence?
• Is South Sudan a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in South Sudan with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to South Sudan? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in South Sudan tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in South Sudan
• Sources

Driving in South Sudan: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in South Sudan?

South Sudan has acceded to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (UN Treaty Collection participant lists — neither Sudan nor South Sudan appears in either). No IDP edition therefore has treaty force in South Sudan and no accepted type can be asserted. South Sudan's Traffic Act, 2003 counts a licence or permit issued abroad as a driving licence only where rules made under the Act deem it one (sections 3, 31(1) and 119), and no such rule has been found, so whether an IDP or a foreign licence is valid there is not established. In travel advice to their own citizens, the Canadian government advises 'You should carry an International Driving Permit', and the UK FCDO advises 'You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in South Sudan. If you still have a paper driving licence, you may need to update it to a photocard licence or get the correct version of the international driving permit (IDP).' The Act itself does not require an IDP; check with South Sudan's traffic police or a South Sudanese embassy before you travel.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: The Traffic Act, 2003 requires a driving licence issued under it or a document its rules deem one (sections 3 and 31(1)). No such rule for foreign licences or permits has been found, so whether your licence or an IDP is valid is not established. Check with the authorities before you travel; the answer below says what is known.

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

What side of the road does South Sudan drive on?

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

How long can you drive in South Sudan with a foreign licence?

South Sudan's Traffic Act, 2003 leaves the conditions for driving on a licence from abroad to rules made under it (section 119), and neither such a rule nor an official visitor period has been found. The one-year figure some sources attribute to its sections 31 and 32 is the term the traffic police have given South Sudanese licences issued to foreigners, which the Act itself does not set. Assume no documented visitor allowance and confirm locally before driving. (No period stated in UK FCDO or Canadian government South Sudan guidance or in the Traffic Act, 2003)

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

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

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

This answer is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to South Sudan as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. South Sudan is party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna road-traffic convention, so no treaty obliges it to recognise foreign licences and no IDP edition is treaty-grounded there. South Sudan's Traffic Act, 2003 forbids driving without a valid driving licence, meaning one issued under the Act or a document that rules made under it deem one (sections 3 and 31(1)), and leaves licences and permits issued abroad to such rules (section 119); none has been found. Whether a foreign licence or an IDP is valid in South Sudan is therefore not established: check with South Sudan's traffic police or a South Sudanese embassy before you travel. UK government advice is that a UK photocard licence can be used there, and Canadian government advice is to carry an IDP. The Act names no visitor period, grants a driving licence from age 18 and sets no blood-alcohol limit. The FCDO advises against all travel to South Sudan and describes driving there as extremely dangerous. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: November 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

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 answer below says what could not be confirmed.

What you need to carry — Check with local authorities before travel

Why — The Traffic Act, 2003 requires a driving licence issued under it or a document its rules deem one (sections 3 and 31(1)). No such rule for foreign licences or permits has been found, so whether your licence or an IDP is valid is not established. [1]

Sources and notes for the answer above

[1] Traffic Act, 2003, ss. 3, 31(1) and 119(1)

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 South Sudan? Rules for new residents

This is a separate clock from any visitor allowance. Anyone taking up residence or long-term work in South Sudan is expected to obtain a South Sudanese driving licence rather than rely indefinitely on a foreign licence. The Traffic Act, 2003 lets a licence be issued or renewed for twelve months, three years or five years, as the holder chooses (section 31(4)), and sets no separate term for foreigners. A traffic-police order of 4 January 2025, quoted in the press, cut the licence term from five years to one for citizens and from one year to six months for foreigners; it was cancelled three days later, and the police stated that a driving licence is valid for five years, without saying whether that covers foreigners.

Driving rules in South Sudan tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry your home driving licence, an IDP or certified English translation, passport and visa, vehicle registration/ownership or rental papers and insurance. If overland travel is unavoidable, carry recovery gear, satellite communications, spare fuel and tyres, water and supplies — Canadian government guidance recommends shovels, traction ramps, GPS and communication equipment.
• Drink-driving: South Sudan's Traffic Act, 2003 sets no blood-alcohol limit: it is an offence to drive while under the influence of drink or a drug to the point of being unable to control the vehicle properly (section 45). Treat the limit as zero and do not drink and drive. Driving under the influence of drink or a drug: a fine of up to 240 Sudanese pounds or up to two years' imprisonment, or both, and a ban from holding or obtaining a licence for at least one year from conviction (Traffic Act, 2003, section 45). The Act states its fines in Sudanese pounds, which South Sudan replaced with its own pound in 2011. Expect police, checkpoint, criminal and insurance consequences.
• Speed limits: The Traffic Act, 2003 sets 50 km/h on any road within a village, town or city (section 43(3)); other maximum speeds are left to rules for each class of vehicle and to road signs, and no national table of them has been found. Obey posted limits and security instructions; conflict, checkpoint and road-surface risk override ordinary journey planning.
• The FCDO advises against all travel to South Sudan. Verbatim: 'It is extremely dangerous to drive in South Sudan due to armed robbery, violent attacks and poor driving standards.' Driving standards are described as well below UK and other European levels.
• Avoid travel after dark. Verbatim: 'At night there is almost no street lighting, and many vehicles have no lights. Motor vehicles share the road with pedestrians, donkey carts and rickshaw-style cabs.' Roadblocks and checkpoints are commonly set up after sunset.
• Verbatim: 'Very few roads are surfaced and maintained, particularly outside Juba.' and 'During the rainy season from April to November, most roads outside of Juba become impassable.' Road traffic accidents are common, particularly on the Juba-Nimule road.
• Canadian government guidance (updated 22 July 2026) states verbatim: 'You should carry an International Driving Permit.' It also recommends avoiding all overland travel, notes frequent armed attacks, kidnappings and landmines outside Juba, and says a four-wheel-drive vehicle is essential outside Juba.

Read more about driving in South Sudan

• Best Places to Visit in South Sudan

Watch what driving in South Sudan looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. UK FCDO — advises against all travel to South Sudan (updated 26 May 2026)
3. UK FCDO — 'Road travel': UK photocard licence usable, paper licence may need IDP; extreme road risk
4. UK FCDO — 'There are no central emergency numbers in South Sudan'
5. Government of Canada — 'You should carry an International Driving Permit' (updated 22 July 2026)
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic participant list (South Sudan absent)
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic participant list (South Sudan absent)
8. Transitional Constitution of South Sudan, 2011, art. 6(2) — English is the official working language
9. Radio Tamazuj (8 January 2025) — the police cancel the order of 4 January 2025 that cut licence validity to one year for citizens and six months for foreigners
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic