Licences & Legal Eligibility
Car Licence Only: Does It Cover a Scooter in Vietnam? Where to Check the Official Answer
About 7 minutes to read
A visitor who holds only a car licence and wants to ride a scooter in Vietnam is asking a narrow question, and the place to look is official texts rather than forum threads. This article reads those texts: the licence-class list of Vietnam’s 2024 road traffic law as a provincial portal reproduces it (page dated 15 August 2024), a Ho Chi Minh City police statement (23 August 2022) and the travel pages of the British, Australian and Canadian governments (modified between May and October 2026). It then says where a reader can ask for the official answer. The section “What the pages leave out” lists what none of the pages settle.
Car licence only: what the class list says about a scooter
The Nghe An Public Administrative Service Centre portal (15 August 2024, crediting chinhphu.vn) reproduces the class definitions of Law 36/2024/QH15 on road traffic order and safety, dated 27 June 2024 and in force from 1 January 2025. The entries that matter for this question read:
| Class | Vehicles named in the list |
|---|---|
| A1 | Two-wheeled motorcycles with a cylinder capacity up to 125 cm3, or an electric motor up to 11 kW |
| A | Two-wheeled motorcycles above 125 cm3 or above 11 kW, plus the vehicles of class A1 |
| B1 | Three-wheeled motorcycles, plus the vehicles of class A1 |
| B | Cars carrying up to 8 people (driver not counted); trucks and special-purpose cars up to 3,500 kg design gross mass; class B cars towing a trailer up to 750 kg |
In this list, B1 sits with the motorcycle classes, and A and B1 each add the vehicles of A1. Class B names cars, trucks and trailers and does not name two-wheeled motorcycles. That is a reading of the list, not a sentence on the page: the page does not state in words that class B leaves out a scooter. A separate page on this site is titled Vietnam Driving Licence Classes A1 and A Explained for Motorbike Renters Under the 2025 Rules.
A foreign licence: what the Vietnamese text and police statement say
The same Nghe An page lists which licences count inside Vietnam. Besides Vietnamese licences, it names an international permit and a national licence matching the permitted vehicle type when issued by a state party to the 1968 UN Convention on Road Traffic (the Vienna Convention). It also names a licence matching the vehicle type from a country or territory with which Vietnam has agreed mutual recognition, and a foreign licence matching the vehicle type from a country recognised under a treaty Vietnam has joined. In each case, validity is tied to the vehicle type the licence allows.
The Ho Chi Minh City portal carries a statement from the city police Road and Railway Traffic Division (PC08). It says that at a check the person must show the Vienna Convention permit together with a national licence issued for the class of vehicle being driven. Its main subject is a different document, the IAA permit issued by an association based in New York, which the statement says has no value in Vietnam. The statement cites Circular 29/2015/TT-BGTVT of 6 July 2015 and was published before the 2024 law; the pages do not say whether later rules changed it.
On permits, this site has pages titled Can an International Driving Permit Be Used in Vietnam? Current Rules and 1968 Convention IDP for Hanoi Motorbike Rental: Check the Motorcycle Category.
The one page with a car-only example
The Government of Canada’s page on International Driving Permits (modified 28 May 2026) is direct. It says an IDP only allows a vehicle in the same class as the holder’s Canadian licence, and gives an example: a motorbike cannot be ridden on an IDP by someone licensed only to drive automobiles. It adds that travel insurance may not cover an accident if the vehicle was driven without the proper licence. The page concerns permits issued in Canada, not Vietnamese licences.
What three governments tell visitors
| Page | Date shown | What it says about licences |
|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK, Vietnam safety and security | Modified 21 September 2026 | Carry both the 1968 version of the international driving permit and the UK driving licence when driving a car or motorbike in Vietnam |
| Smartraveller (Australia), Vietnam | Updated 24 September 2026 | Not allowed to drive or ride on an Australian licence or Australian-issued IDP; a valid Vietnamese licence is needed, including for motorcycles of 50cc or more; Australians can only ride with a temporary Vietnamese licence, and the page says converting an Australian licence to one needs a valid Vietnamese residence permit for at least three months |
| Travel.gc.ca (Canada), Vietnam | Modified 19 October 2026 | Vietnam does not recognise Canadian licences or Canadian-issued IDPs; a valid Vietnamese licence is needed for an engine of 50CC or more; only Canadian licence holders who are residents for at least 3 months in Vietnam can apply for a Vietnamese licence |
GOV.UK’s separate driving-abroad page (modified 29 January 2025) lists Vietnam under the 1968 permit type and tells holders to carry their driving licence along with the permit. Smartraveller adds that authorities may fine you for driving without a valid licence and that the traveller’s insurer will likely deny claims if the rider is unlicensed or lacks the correct class of licence.
Where the pages disagree
GOV.UK describes a UK licence plus a 1968 permit as the documents to carry. The Australian and Canadian pages say their own countries’ licences and permits are not accepted and point to a Vietnamese licence. The Vietnamese text read here recognises permits and licences from states party to the Vienna Convention, but none of the pages explains why the foreign advice differs.
Where to check the official answer
- The law itself. Law 36/2024/QH15 holds the class list. The copy read here is a provincial portal reproduction crediting chinhphu.vn; the pages do not name an official gazette address.
- Vietnamese police. The Ho Chi Minh City statement shows traffic police stating the permit rule, and Smartraveller says to contact the relevant ward police. The pages give no Hanoi police address or phone number.
- A provincial Department of Transport. The Canadian page says to contact it in your Vietnamese province of residence; it does not say whether that applies to short-stay visitors.
- The home government’s travel page. Check the date shown, as the travel advice pages above show 2026 dates.
- The insurer and the rental shop. Smartraveller and the Canadian IDP page both tie insurance cover to holding the correct licence. No page read here says what a Vietnamese motorbike rental shop requires, so that is a question to put to the shop.
Related reading: Do You Need a Motorcycle License in Vietnam? Current Rules.
What the pages leave out
No page states in a sentence that a Vietnamese class B licence does not cover a scooter; that reading comes from the class list, and the nearest explicit sentence is on the Canadian IDP page, which concerns a permit issued in Canada. No page defines “scooter”. The Vietnamese text speaks of two-wheeled motorcycles by engine size, and the Australian and Canadian pages draw a line at 50cc, but none says how bikes below that line are treated for a visitor. None gives fine amounts, licence rules for renting a motorbike in Vietnam, or what a shop must check. The Ho Chi Minh City statement is from 2022 and cites a 2015 circular, so it may not reflect current wording. The pages do not say how Vietnam treats a car licence from a country not mentioned here, and no page from the United States or any other foreign government was read.
Sources checked
- Nghe An portal, 15 August 2024: class list and recognition rules. Nghe An: licence classes
- Ho Chi Minh City portal, 23 August 2022: police statement on permits. HCMC: international permits
- GOV.UK, modified 21 September 2026: UK advice. GOV.UK: Vietnam safety
- GOV.UK driving abroad, modified 29 January 2025: permit table. GOV.UK: IDP table
- Smartraveller, updated 24 September 2026: Australian advice. Smartraveller: Vietnam
- Travel.gc.ca, modified 19 October 2026: Canadian advice. Canada: Vietnam advice
- Travel.gc.ca, modified 28 May 2026: permit class rule. Canada: IDP page
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