Tourist, Resident or Long-Stay Visa: Does Your Status Change the Licence Questions for Riding in Vietnam?

A visitor planning a few weeks on two wheels and an expat planning a year may ask the same thing: does being a tourist, a resident or a long-stay visa holder change the questions to ask about a Vietnam motorbike licence? The government pages read for this article point to three places where a person’s situation comes into the licence questions: a permit route for holders of an IDP and a national licence, an exchange route tied to visa or residence documents, and time limits that refer to the visa or the permitted stay. The article sets out what each page says, where the pages differ, which questions can go to a rental shop and what the pages leave out.

Tourist or resident: the routes side by side

What the law text and UK advice say for visitors

Law No. 36/2024/QH15 on Road Traffic Order and Safety, whose full text is posted on a Nghe An province government portal, applies from 1 January 2025 (Article 88(1)). Article 57(6)(b) counts an international licence plus a national licence suited to the vehicle type, issued by a state party to the 1968 Vienna Convention, among the licences valid in Vietnam. Article 57(8) says the holder must carry both documents, in date and matching the class ridden, that a permit lasts no more than 3 years and that it must fit the remaining validity of the national licence.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advice for Vietnam (page data modified 21 September 2026) says UK travellers need both the 1968 version of the IDP and a UK driving licence to drive a car or motorbike. GOV.UK’s IDP guide lists Vietnam against 1968. The same advice page says it is illegal to drive without third-party insurance and warns against using a passport as a deposit for hiring vehicles.

Status also appears in a less obvious place. Article 57(8)(c) says that when an IDP holder breaks Vietnamese road traffic law and is deprived of the right to use the licence for a fixed term, that period may not exceed the time the driver is permitted to reside in Vietnam.

What changes with a longer stay

Article 62(2) of the law lists a valid foreign licence, issued by a foreign authority, among the cases in which a licence may be exchanged. Article 62 sets no visa or residence condition itself, while Article 57(8)(d), a separate provision, addresses residence card holders: a foreigner with a permanent or temporary residence card and a valid licence issued by Vietnam, or by a state party to a treaty Vietnam has joined, may be issued an international licence on request. The text does not say how that relates to riding in Vietnam itself.

For the exchange conditions this article relies on two provincial police portals: Quảng Trị’s page dated 4 July 2026 and Tây Ninh’s page describe Circular 108/2026/TT-BCA, applying from 1 July 2026, as adding a rule that foreigners holding a visa valid for 90 days or more may exchange a foreign licence for a Vietnamese one. The Ministry of Public Security’s legal database lists the circular as issued on 29 June 2026 and in force from 1 July 2026, and its replaced-documents field names Circular 12/2025/TT-BCA.

The U.S. Embassy page, last modified on 15 July 2025, predates the circular. It lists a passport biodata page, a visa page and a residency permit among exchange documents and says a health check document is not required when the licence validity will follow the visa or residence permit validity. It adds that an ASEAN-country licence may be recognised in certain circumstances, yet advises obtaining a local licence to drive legally. It calls the list non-exhaustive and tells foreigners applying for a Vietnamese licence to contact the Traffic Police Department or a commune-level police department for official instructions. Document preparation is the subject of Foreign Licence Exchange in Hanoi: Prepare Documents Before a Long-Term Motorbike Rental, and visa dates are covered in Long-Term Motorbike Rental in Vietnam: Visa Dates, Temporary Residence and an Alignment Checklist.

Where the pages disagree or stay vague

• The U.S. Embassy page says foreign driver licences, even with an international driving permit, are not valid in Vietnam. Article 57(6)(b) and the UK advice describe an IDP route. The embassy page data shows a modification date of 15 July 2025, after the law took effect on 1 January 2025, and no page explains the difference.
• The police portals say foreigners with a visa valid for 90 days or more may exchange a licence. They do not say whether the 90 days counts from issue or from the application date, or which visa types qualify. Visa lengths are discussed in Vietnam E-Visa for a Motorbike Trip: 90-Day Validity, Entry Points and Documents to Carry.
• The embassy list names both a visa page and a residency permit, while the portal summaries speak of a visa valid for 90 days or more. Neither says whether a short-stay visitor can use the exchange route.

Questions to put to a shop

These are general prompts built from the pages above, not statements about any shop’s practice.

• Which documents does the shop want to see: an IDP carried with the home licence, or a Vietnamese licence?
• For a stay longer than a short visit, at what point does the shop expect an exchanged licence, if at all?
• Do the expiry dates of the permit and the home licence cover the whole rental, given that Article 57(8) ties the permit to the national licence?
• Which visa or residence document will be copied, and when does it expire?

For the permit category on a 1968 document, see 1968 Convention IDP for Hanoi Motorbike Rental: Check the Motorcycle Category.

What the pages leave out

• No page defines tourist, resident or long-stay for licence purposes. The law text speaks of permitted residence, and the portals speak of visa length.
• The Ministry’s database page lists the circular, whose title covers the issue and use of international driving licences, but its readable text did not include the article on foreign licence exchange or any provision on how an IDP is used. The 90-day rule here rests on two provincial police summaries.
• No page gives a 2026 fee or processing time for the exchange (the embassy page has a fee figure, but it predates the circular), and none says whether an e-visa holder qualifies.
• No page says how a rental shop treats any of these routes.

Sources checked

• Ministry of Public Security database: Circular 108/2026/TT-BCA
• Quảng Trị police: new licence rules from 1 July 2026
• Tây Ninh police: new licence rules from July 2026
• Nghe An portal: Law 36/2024/QH15 full text
• U.S. Embassy Vietnam: Driving in Vietnam
• GOV.UK: Vietnam safety and security
• GOV.UK: Check if you need an IDP

Thuê xe máy Nguyễn Hà is open 09:00–21:00 daily at Ngõ 5 Nguyễn Văn Cừ, Bồ Đề, Long Biên, Hà Nội (near Gia Lâm bus station). Phone: 0334 699 969.