International Driving Permit in Sudan

🗓 Facts checked against official government guidance for Sudan 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 Sudan: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Sudan?
• What side of the road does Sudan drive on?
• How long can you drive in Sudan with a foreign licence?
• Is 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 Sudan with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Sudan? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Sudan tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Sudan
• Sources

Driving in Sudan: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Sudan?

Sudan is a party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (per the UN Treaty Collection participant tables for chapters XI-B-1 and XI-B-19 on 2026-07-29 — Sudan appears in neither). No International Driving Permit therefore has treaty force in Sudan, and no IDP can be legally 'required'. An IDP is at most a practical multilingual companion document: the Government of Canada's Sudan travel advice states 'You should carry an international driving permit.' The only current government statement about a foreign national licence is UK-specific — FCDO: 'You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in Sudan for up to 3 months.' Paper-licence holders are told they may need to update to a photocard. Sudan's own statutory recognition norm for foreign licences could not be verified online.

• 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.

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 Sudan drive on?

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

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

UK licence holders: up to 3 months on a UK photocard licence (FCDO, verbatim: 'You can use a UK photocard driving licence to drive in Sudan for up to 3 months'). No general, all-origin visitor period is published by Sudanese authorities — holders of other licences should confirm locally before driving. (UK FCDO Sudan travel advice, 'Road travel')

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

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

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 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 Sudan with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Sudan as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Sudan sits outside both driving-licence conventions — it is a party to neither the 1949 Geneva nor the 1968 Vienna Convention — so no International Driving Permit carries legal weight there and none can be legally required. The only current government statement about driving on a foreign licence is origin-specific: the UK FCDO says a UK photocard licence may be used for up to 3 months. Sudan publishes no verifiable general recognition rule, fine schedule or translation requirement, so an Arabic translation (and, as Canada advises, an IDP) should be treated as a practical precaution. With FCDO advising against all travel because of the ongoing conflict, the security plan, the documentation you carry and the honest information gaps below matter far more than nominal licence eligibility. 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.
• 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.
• IDP or translation — your national licence needs a supporting document alongside it. Which ones the destination accepts, and whether an official IDP can be issued for your licence at all, are in the row for your country of issue, in the table below.
• Not recognised — the record shows no route to drive here as a visitor on this licence; ask the local authorities about conversion or a temporary permit. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what stands in the way.
• 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] Inferred from Arabic being the official administrative language; no published Sudanese translation rule or waiver located

[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

[a] Licence categories do not follow the convention A–E scheme — rental staff may ask for an IDP to map them.

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 Sudan? Sudan's IDPs are issued by Automobile & Touring Club of Sudan (ATCS). Official site. Sudan is party to neither road-traffic convention, so the permit is issued outside the UN convention framework and is not an official convention IDP — check that your destination accepts it.
• 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 Sudan? Rules for new residents

Any UK-photocard route ends after 3 months; there is no verified longer-term foreign-licence route for any origin. Foreign-government travel advice.

Driving rules in Sudan tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: No verified statutory carry-list (warning triangle, vest, extinguisher). Practically: a reliable vehicle — four-wheel drive off the main highways — with fuel, water, communications, first aid and recovery supplies. Carry the licence, any Arabic translation/IDP, registration, insurance, photographic ID and any movement permits at all times.
• Drink-driving: No published Sudanese BAC limit was located. Alcohol law: Sudan's blanket prohibition was amended in July 2020 so that non-Muslims may consume alcohol in private; consumption by Muslims, and public sale/consumption, remain prohibited, and some governments (e.g. Canada) still advise flatly that 'it is prohibited to import or consume alcohol, even in private.' Treat drink-driving as a criminal, not a tariffed traffic, matter and do not drink before driving. No verified drink-driving fine or BAC tariff. Alcohol offences can be prosecuted criminally and consequences can be severe; they cannot be safely reduced to a traffic penalty figure.
• Speed limits: No verified national speed-limit schedule. Drive on the right, obey military and police checkpoints and local movement controls; in practice conflict conditions and road surface, not signage, determine safe speed. Note the one verifiable statutory rule: 'Sudanese law prohibits the use of mobile phones while driving'.
• FCDO advises against all travel to Sudan because of the ongoing military conflict in Khartoum and other parts of the country. Travel insurance could be invalidated by travelling against that advice. Road travel 'will involve heightened levels of risk due to the current conflict and should only be undertaken if strictly necessary'.
• 'It is a legal requirement to carry photographic ID, such as a passport, with you at all times.' FCDO also advises drivers to 'keep doors locked and windows closed when driving' and not to leave valuables on display, citing widespread violent crime, demands for money at checkpoints, drive-by bag-snatching by thieves on motorbikes and attempts to open the doors of stopped vehicles. If stopped or attacked, comply with demands and do not resist.
• 'Road conditions are poor. Roads, even major ones, might be untarred or unsurfaced' and have potholes. Roads are shared with pedestrians, donkey-carts and rickshaws; night-time visibility is poor. Canada's advice adds that many routes outside the main cities need four-wheel drive, except the highways linking Khartoum with Kassala, Atbara and El Obeid.
• Sudan drives on the right (it switched from left-hand to right-hand traffic in 1973).

Read more about driving in Sudan

• 10 Interesting Facts About Sudan
• Best Places to Visit in Sudan

Watch what driving in Sudan looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. UK FCDO Sudan — advice against all travel and insurance-invalidation warning
3. UK FCDO Sudan — emergency number 999 (ambulance, fire, police) and reliability warning
4. Government of Canada Sudan travel advice — 'You should carry an international driving permit', alcohol, 4WD routes, emergency numbers 999/333/777
5. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic participants; Sudan not a party
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic participants; Sudan not a party
7. UK DVLA IDP country table — Sudan absent, i.e. no UK-recognised IDP type for Sudan
8. Automobile & Touring Club of Sudan (ATCS) — authorized IDP issuer in Sudan
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic