International Driving Permit in Trinidad and Tobago

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

Driving in Trinidad and Tobago: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Trinidad and Tobago?

Under the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act a visitor may drive on a valid home licence alone, with no IDP, for three months from the date of arrival only if it was issued in a country named in the Notice made under s. 56A(2): 98 countries, some under former names, among them the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Any other visitor may drive on an IDP issued under a convention applied to Trinidad and Tobago, such as the 1949 Geneva Convention, for as long as the IDP is valid (s. 55), or else needs a Trinidad and Tobago driving permit (s. 42(1)); Trinidad and Tobago is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention. The Ministry of Works and Transport's visitor page, archived in March 2026 and no longer on its site, said instead that a licence from any signatory of the Geneva Convention may be used for 90 days and that any valid IDP is accepted. Where the two texts do not plainly agree on your licence, check with the Licensing Authority before you travel.

• 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: Carry the original licence at all times, plus the 1949 IDP where applicable, and the travel document (passport) showing your date of arrival — s. 56A(3) requires the arrival-dated travel document to be produced together with the permit. Also carry registration, rental and insurance papers.

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

What side of the road does Trinidad and Tobago drive on?

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

How long can you drive in Trinidad and Tobago with a foreign licence?

Three months from the date of arrival on a valid licence issued in a country named in the Notice made under s. 56A(2) of the Act, with no IDP required; the Ministry's former visitor page said 90 days. Beyond that window, or for a licence the Notice does not name, the Act's routes are an IDP issued under a convention applied to Trinidad and Tobago, such as the 1949 Geneva Convention, or a Trinidad and Tobago driving permit. Under s. 55 an IDP exempts its holder from needing a local permit for as long as the IDP remains valid, and a 1949 IDP is valid for one year from its date of issue. (Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Chap. 48:50, s. 55 and s. 56A, and the Notice made under s. 56A(2) (LN 242/1986); Ministry of Works and Transport visitor page (archived March 2026); UK Government IDP table and Trinidad and Tobago travel advice)

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

Is Trinidad and Tobago a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Trinidad and Tobago 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: accession on 8 Jul 1964.

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 Trinidad and Tobago with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Trinidad and Tobago as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Trinidad and Tobago drives on the left. Under the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act a licence issued in one of the countries named in the Notice made under s. 56A(2) may be used on its own for three months from the date of arrival; for any other licence the Act's routes are an IDP issued under a convention applied to Trinidad and Tobago, such as the 1949 Geneva Convention (s. 55), or a Trinidad and Tobago driving permit. The Ministry of Works and Transport's former visitor page named licences from Geneva Convention signatories and any valid IDP instead. Where the Act and that page do not plainly agree on a licence, its answer is Not established: check with the Licensing Authority before you travel. 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 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] Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Chap. 48:50, s. 56A, and the Notice of Exemption from Requirement to hold a Driver's Permit issued in a Foreign Country (LN 242/1986, amended by 10/2003) made under s. 56A(2), Attorney General's revised edition to 31 December 2016

[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 Trinidad and Tobago? Trinidad and Tobago's official IDPs are issued by Trinidad and Tobago Automobile Association (TTAA). 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 Trinidad and Tobago? Rules for new residents

The three-month visitor exemption runs from the date of arrival and is a different clock from the residence rules. A person who intends to stay on, or who is granted permission to remain, should obtain a Trinidad and Tobago driver's permit through the Licensing Division of the Ministry of Works and Transport. Official source.

Driving rules in Trinidad and Tobago tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts are mandatory for the driver and passengers, and young children must be secured in an appropriate restraint. Carry the licence, the 1949 IDP where applicable, the arrival-stamped travel document, and complete registration, rental and insurance papers.
• Drink-driving: The prescribed limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath or 80 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood, unless another proportion is prescribed (s. 70G(1) of the Act). Trinidadian industry sources state a first drink-driving offence attracts a fine of TT$12,000 or up to three years' imprisonment; a second TT$22,500 or five years plus a three-year disqualification; a third the permanent loss of the driving permit. In the Act these are the penalties for driving over the prescribed alcohol limit (s. 70A(2) and (3), revised edition to 31 December 2016).
• Speed limits: Drive on the left. Speed limits are set by s. 62 and the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, which states them in kilometres per hour. Legal Notice 152 of 2017 declared every road in Trinidad and Tobago to be a built-up area except thirteen named stretches, so for an ordinary car the limit is 50 km/h by default, everywhere. The exceptions are 100 km/h on five highway sections — the Beetham, the Churchill-Roosevelt, the Uriah Butler and two stretches of the Solomon Hochoy — and 80 km/h on eight others, among them the Audrey Jeffers Freeway, the Diego Martin Highway and, in Tobago, the Claude Noel Highway and Shirvan Road. Tobago has no 100 km/h road. Interchanges and ramps are lower again, 20-40 km/h. The 50 km/h default binds whether or not a sign says so: the Act's defence for an unsigned limit reaches only the reduced special limits, not the general ones. Police enforce with handheld LIDAR devices, and Legal Notice 471 of 2025 raised speeding fines with effect from 1 January 2026 to TT$2,000 for 1-9 km/h over the limit, TT$3,000 for 10-20 km/h over, TT$4,000 for 21-30 km/h over and TT$6,000 for 31 km/h or more. Take extra care after dark.
• Carry the original licence at all times, plus the 1949 IDP where applicable, and the travel document (passport) showing your date of arrival — s. 56A(3) requires the arrival-dated travel document to be produced together with the permit. Also carry registration, rental and insurance papers.
• Violent vehicle crime is a real risk. UK travel advice warns that criminals may carry out attacks in vehicles, and recommends using established taxi firms, keeping windows closed and doors locked, and avoiding areas affected by gang violence.
• Drive on the left. UK travel advice states driving standards are mixed and that high-speed crashes on Trinidad's main highways often result in fatalities, with accidents caused by drink-driving including on the Beetham/Churchill Roosevelt Highway to and from the airport. Roads may be narrow, winding and of mixed surface quality, pedestrians walk on roadways, and night lighting is inadequate.

Read more about driving in Trinidad and Tobago

• 10 Interesting Facts About Trinidad and Tobago
• Best Places to Visit in Trinidad and Tobago

Watch what driving in Trinidad and Tobago looks like

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

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Chap. 48:50, s. 55 and s. 56A, and the Notice made under s. 56A(2) (LN 242/1986); Ministry of Works and Transport visitor page (archived March 2026); UK Government IDP table and Trinidad and Tobago travel advice
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. UK FCDO travel advice — 90-day photocard rule, 1949 IDP, road conditions and vehicle crime
5. UK FCDO — emergency numbers: "Ambulance: 811 / Fire: 990 / Police: 999"
6. Primary law — Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Chap. 48:50, Attorney General's law library (revised edition to 31 December 2016): s. 55, s. 56A and s. 62 with the Second Schedule. That consolidation predates the instruments the speed and penalty figures on this page rest on — Act No. 14 of 2017, Legal Notices 152 and 153 of 2017, the Special Speed Limits (Amendment) Order 2024 and Legal Notice 471 of 2025 — so it must be read together with them. The host serves a broken TLS chain rather than blocking access, so a plain browser fetch fails where a direct download succeeds.
7. Secondary — quotes s. 55 (IDP exemption while valid) and s. 56A(1) and (3) (three-month exemption, arrival-dated travel document); the country list made under s. 56A(2) is not reproduced
8. Ministry of Works and Transport, "Speed Limits for major roads and highways" — the amended Second Schedule and the statement that every road without a special limit remains at 50 km/h. Underlying instruments: Act No. 14 of 2017, which amended the Second Schedule; Legal Notice 152 of 2017, which declared every road built-up except thirteen named stretches and so sets the 50 km/h default; Legal Notice 153 of 2017, which sets the special limits for those thirteen — 100 km/h on five and 80 km/h on eight; the Special Speed Limits (Amendment) Order 2024; and Legal Notice 471 of 2025, which raised speeding fines from 1 January 2026
9. Primary law — Legal Notice No. 471 of 2025, the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment to the Ninth Schedule) (No. 3) Order, 2025, in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette Vol. 64 No. 188 of 25 December 2025 (Government Printery e-gazette): the amended Ninth Schedule behind the fixed penalties quoted on this page
10. Ministry of Works and Transport, "Requirements for Visitors to Drive in Trinidad and Tobago" (Internet Archive copy of 7 March 2026; the page is no longer on the Ministry's site): 90 days on a permit "issued by a country that is a signatory to the Geneva Convention", or a valid IDP for the period printed on it
11. Trinidad and Tobago Automobile Association (TTAA) — authorized IDP issuer in Trinidad and Tobago
12. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
13. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic