The legal regulations on the conversion of driver's licenses for foreign residents living in Vietnam

According to Article 5, Article 37, Circular No. 12/2017/TT-BGTVT, foreigners are one of the subjects eligible to convert driver's licenses:

5. Subjects eligible for driver's license conversion:...

g) Foreigners residing, working, studying in Vietnam, having diplomatic identity card, official identity card, temporary residence card, permanent residence card, long-term residence card with a duration of 03 months or more, with a valid national driver's license, if they need to drive in Vietnam, their driver's license can be converted to the corresponding Vietnamese driver's license;

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Based on Article 10, Article 33, Circular No 12/2017/TT-BGTVT regarding the use and management of driver's licenses:

10. Foreigners or Vietnamese residing abroad who want to drive in Vietnam must follow these procedures:

a) If they have a national driver's license, they must convert it to the corresponding Vietnamese driver's license;

b) In cases where international conventions on driver's licenses of which Vietnam is a member have different regulations, the provisions of that international convention apply.

According to the regulation, if a foreigner already has a national driver's license issued by the competent authority, they need to go through the procedure to convert it to the corresponding Vietnamese driver's license, except in cases where there are different regulations in international conventions on driver's licenses of which Vietnam is a member, in which case the provisions of that international convention apply.

In 2014, Vietnam officially joined the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (1968). However, it was not until 2016 that Vietnam started the conversion and issuance of driver's licenses for foreign nationals wishing to convert.

2. The contracting country must recognize drivers who own:

(a) Domestic driver's license written in an official language or one of the official languages of the circulating country, or if not in such languages, must be accompanied by a certified translation;

(b) Domestic driver's license compliant with Appendix 6 of the convention; and

(c) International driver's license compliant with Appendix 7 of the convention;

that are valid for driving on its territory, as long as the license is still valid and is issued by the contracting country or another political subdivision, or by an authorized agency of that country. All these provisions do not apply to a learner's permit.

Furthermore, Article 11, Circular No. 29/2015/TT-BGTVT stipulates the issuance and use of international driver's licenses as follows:

1. Persons with an IDP issued by countries participating in the Vienna Convention when driving motor vehicles on Vietnamese territory must carry the IDP and a national driver's license appropriate for the class of vehicle they are controlling; they must comply with Vietnam's road traffic laws.

2. Persons with IDP violating Vietnam's road traffic laws and having their IDP revoked for a certain period of time, the revocation period shall not exceed the period the driver is allowed to reside in Vietnam.At the same time, Article 6, Article 37, Circular No. 12/2017/TT-BGTVT and Circular No. 01/2021/TT-BGTVT stipulate the following cases in which driver's licenses cannot be converted:

6. No driver's license conversion for the following cases:

a) Temporary driver's licenses from foreign countries; international driver's licenses; driver's licenses from foreign countries, military, police that have expired according to regulations, have been invalidated, torn not meeting essential identification factors for driver's license conversion, or have differences in identification; foreign driver's licenses not issued by the competent authority;

...Therefore, according to the regulation above, if a foreign national possesses an international driver's license issued by the competent authority of countries participating in the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968 and still valid, they do not need to convert to a Vietnamese driver's license; if not falling into those cases, foreign nationals need to go through the procedure to convert to a Vietnamese driver's license to be able to participate in traffic on Vietnamese territory.

Regulations on the conversion of driver's licenses for foreigners

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Như vậy, theo quy định trên, nếu người nước ngoài có Giấy phép lái xe quốc tế do cơ quan có thẩm quyền của các nước tham gia Công ước Vienna về Giao thông đường bộ năm 1968 và còn thời hạn sử dụng thì người nước ngoài sẽ không phải đổi sang giấy phép lái xe Việt Nam; nếu không thuộc các trường hợp đó, người nước ngoà cần làm thủ tục chuyển đổi sang giấy phép lái xe Việt Nam để có thể tham gia giao thông trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam.