Coming to Vietnam for a bike tour and wondering can foreigner rider ride motorbike in Vietnam without driving License or if an international license valid in Vietnam or how does it work?
Firstly, none of foreign driving licenses is valid in Vietnam, including your home country license.
However, we don’t require a motorbike driving license to hire our bike or book motorbike tours in Vietnam with us.
Vietnam government laws require riders of all motor vehicles above 50cc to have a full Vietnamese driving license (under 175cc is A1 and from 175cc is A2, 50cc or under need to understand the road rules in Vietnam ).
So what’s the importance of having a license?
The question of having or not having a motorbike driving license mainly concerns your Personal Medical Insurance. If you don’t have a Vietnamese motorbike driving license, you can not buy any local insurance from your home country. Fortunately, you can buy one from companies like Allianz, CHI or World Nomads etc. They only request your home country driving license. Please check it out and contact before traveling Vietnam by motorbike.
On the top of that, motorbike license is not a problem in Vietnam. Formally, no foreign license is fully valid for riding in Vietnam, including international driving licenses, even they were officially translated (at Vietnamese Embassies or in Vietnam). On the other hand, if you are working in Vietnam under contract for at least 6 months you could easily get a local Vietnamese driving license. Traffic police generally don’t stop Westerners in Vietnam to check licenses simply because they don’t speak good English or feel confident to deal with it. However, with younger cops who speak English and smart phones things become easier for communication. In addition, in the same time they can deal with many other local people. Mui Ne and Nha Trang in the South of Vietnam have been the only exception where they started checking licenses.
What’s the current situation?
Informally, many recent international driving licenses which include Vietnam in the country list are accepted by the traffic police on the road. The Vietnamese government is working on accepting all international driving license from 2015 but unfortunately there is no final confirmation from the Ministry of Transport. Laws in Vietnam need sometimes to be enforced through a big complicated system of decrees and letters. Now they are talking about sometimes in 2016 after many delays. However, no official confirmation as of today.
How do I get an international license for Vietnam Motorbike Tours?
International licenses can be provided on the spot at the motoring authority in your home country (e.g. The AA in the UK or the NRMA in Australia). Take your existing national license and passport photo to their office. Pay a small fee, they will provide a license along the same lines as your existing license, valid from one year.
How We Converting Your Motorbike Driving License
It is the easiest way to get a Vietnam motorbike driving license. In other words, you don’t need to take any theory or riding test.
This could only be possible if you already had your home country motorbike driving license. In addition, you need to have a business visa or residence card of at least three month’s validity. It’s simply converting from your home country driving license to the Vietnamese motorbike driving license.
You need to have notarizing copies of your passport, visa and home country motorbike driving license (take 1-2 working days once you are in Vietnam). These documents can be done at any Hanoi notarizing office. Then wait 7-10 days to have a your Vietnam motorbike driving license issued.
If you need a riding test then you need to wait for longer time. Normally, they can arrange a weekly test somewhere in Hanoi. But sometime this can be longer.
In Hanoi, applications for temporary driver’s licenses should be directed to the Hanoi Urban Transport Management and Operation Centre, 16 Cao Ba Quat street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi.
Phone: +84 4 3747 0029
Fax: +84 4 3747 0024
Website: http://tramoc.com.vn/index.php?newlang=english
Applying For a Vietnamese Driving License
This is more difficult way to get a Vietnam motorbike driving license. You need to attend both theory and riding tests. All questions an instructions are only in Vietnamese. You have to do this because you don’t have a valid home country car or motorbike driving license. Something like CBT from the UK is not enough.
To get a Vietnam motorbike driving license, the applicant must hold a valid Vietnamese residence permit or a work permit, a business visa of at least three month’s validity and a sponsor company. You need to have notarizing copies of your passport and visa (take 1-2 working days once you are in Vietnam). These documents are translated and notarized at any Hanoi notarizing office. Then wait for your turn to do the theory and riding tests that can take up to a month.
Feel free contact us if you still have more questions regarding your Vietnam motorbike driving licenses when you book motorbike tours in Vietnam with us.
Still have more questions about motorcycle tours in Vietnam, visit this link for more: https://vietnammotorbiketour.asia/7652/vietnam-motorbike-riding-license/
More tours at: https://vietnammotorbikeride.com/