If your motorbike licence was issued before 1 January 2025, it did not become invalid when the new licence law took effect. Article 89 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (No. 36/2024/QH15) keeps pre-2025 licences valid as issued — you keep riding on the old class until a reissue moves you to the new system.

The old classes and what they still cover

The pre-2025 motorbike classes were broader than today’s. Under the transitional mapping recorded against the old regulations:

  • Old A1: motorbikes from 50 cc up to but not including 175 cc, and electric machines from 4 kW up to but not including 14 kW
  • Old A2: 175 cc and above, or 14 kW and above — the big-bike class
  • Old A3: three-wheeled motorbikes

A rider holding an old paper A1 therefore legally covers a 150 cc machine that today’s A1 (125 cc ceiling) would not — the transitional rule preserves the wider envelope.

The new classes they map onto

Today’s system has A1 (up to and including 125 cc / 11 kW), A (above that — the single big-bike class) and B1 (three-wheel). On any reissue — lost licence, damaged card, detail change — the new card carries new-class codes. A rider whose old A1 covered up to 175 cc keeps practical coverage of the machines they rode, because the transitional validity continues; the class printed on the new card follows the current Article 57 scheme.

What changes regardless

Two things did change for everyone on 1 January 2025: the 12-point system applies to old and new licences alike, and the fine schedule of Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP applies to every rider regardless of licence vintage. An old-class rider with zero points is in exactly the position of a new-class rider with zero points.

Why this matters for residents and buyers

Foreigners sometimes buy or inherit a licence-era question: a pre-2025 Vietnamese A1 holder has coverage a fresh A1 applicant does not, and the distinction shows up at checkpoints and in accident liability arguments. The transitional rules are the reason the two systems run in parallel.

Information, not legal advice. Verified against Law 36/2024/QH15, Articles 57 and 89, on 2026-09-22.