The A1 licence is the workhorse motorcycle licence in Vietnam, and the class almost every renter needs to think about. Its scope is set by Article 57 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (No. 36/2024/QH15).
What a new A1 licence covers
- Petrol two-wheelers up to and including 125cc
- Electric two-wheelers up to and including 11 kW
- Minimum age: 18 (Article 59)
That covers nearly every bike a typical rental shop in Hanoi offers: 110–125cc scooters and underbones such as the Honda Vision, Honda Air Blade, Honda Wave, Honda Click and Yamaha Mio all sit inside A1 — including the 125cc models, because the law’s wording is “up to 125cc”, not “below 125cc”.
The pre-2025 transitional rule
Article 89 of the law preserves the scope of A1 licences issued before 1 January 2025: petrol bikes from 50cc up to (but not including) 175cc, or electric machines from 4 kW up to (but not including) 14 kW. No retest is required. This is why some Vietnamese riders with old A1 licences legally ride 150cc bikes.
What A1 does not cover
- Petrol bikes above 125cc or electric machines above 11 kW on a new licence (that needs class A, which covers everything above the A1 thresholds)
- Three-wheel motorbikes (class B1)
For foreign visitors
Most visitors do not hold a Vietnamese A1. Instead, recognition depends on your home licence plus an International Driving Permit that includes a motorcycle category — see our IDP guide. Riding a 110cc scooter with no valid licence of any kind is an offence: 2–4 million VND for bikes of 125cc or under, 6–8 million for bigger machines (Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP, Article 18). It also complicates insurance and liability after an accident.
Information, not legal advice. Verified against the full text of Law 36/2024/QH15 and Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP on 2026-09-21.