Vietnam recognises one kind of International Driving Permit: the one issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, and only when carried together with the national licence it translates. Article 57(8) of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (No. 36/2024/QH15) is the domestic rule that makes the treaty document rideable in Vietnam.
The country question answered correctly
The IDP’s validity in Vietnam does not depend on the issuing country being Vietnam’s neighbour or partner — it depends on the issuing country being a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention and issuing the permit in the 1968 format. The convention’s membership spans a large part of Europe and much of Asia; Vietnam acceded in 2014, which is what makes its own 1968-format IDPs acceptable abroad and foreign 1968 permits acceptable at home. The reliable check is not a remembered country list but the permit document itself: a 1968 Vienna Convention IDP states its basis on its face, and the issuing automobile association issues it only for convention countries.
What fails
Two categories fail predictably. First, 1949 Geneva Convention IDPs — the format several major tourist-source countries still issue — are not recognised: Article 57(8) of the road traffic law accepts only the 1968 Vienna Convention format, carried together with the national licence. Second, national licences alone from non-convention countries: no translation, no notarised copy, no rental-shop letter changes a non-recognised licence into a rideable one. Riders carrying these ride in the unlicensed bands if stopped.
The second half of the rule
Even a valid 1968 IDP is incomplete without its national licence. The rule requires both to be carried together, and an IDP holder who cannot produce the national licence faces the document-carriage fine — the checkpoint treats the permit as a translation whose original is missing.
The vehicle-class catch
The IDP translates categories, it does not broaden them. A car-only national licence behind a 1968 IDP gives car categories in Vietnam — riding a 110 cc scooter on it is riding outside category. For rental purposes the check is: does the national licence include a two-wheeled category the IDP actually translates?
Information, not legal advice. Verified against Law 36/2024/QH15, Article 57(8), and the Vienna Convention framework on 2026-09-22.