The document list for renting a motorbike in Hanoi is short. Two items matter, and one of them is commonly misunderstood.
Document 1: your passport
The shop needs an identity document to write the rental contract. Your passport is that document. It is normal for the shop to note the passport number on the agreement; it is not necessary for the shop to physically hold your passport for the whole rental - leave a cash deposit instead, which is standard practice.
Document 2: a licence valid for the bike
No document makes you legal except a licence Vietnam recognises. The three working combinations:
- A Vietnamese licence - the A1 class covers bikes up to 175 cc.
- Your home-country motorcycle licence plus an IDP issued under the 1968 Vienna convention. Permits issued under other conventions, or a permit alone without the national licence, do not count.
- A national licence formally exchanged for a Vietnamese one, available to longer-term residents.
For bikes of 50 cc or less, no driving licence is required - the rider must be at least 16.
What you do not need
- An IDP on its own. The permit only translates the licence; without the national licence behind it, riding on it counts as riding unlicensed.
- Proof of insurance. Compulsory third-party cover attaches to the vehicle, and the owner normally holds it. What shops do not provide is insurance for you - arrange travel or medical cover yourself.
- A residence card, work permit or student visa. Renting is not an immigration matter.
Carrying documents while riding
When you ride, carry the licence and be able to show it at a stop. If the bike’s registration papers are not with the bike, traffic police can hold the vehicle until papers are produced - one reason to rent from a shop that hands you the registration certificate with the keys.
Passport plus valid licence: that is the whole list. Everything else a shop asks for is commercial, not documentary.