International driving permit

An international driving permit is an A6 booklet which is formatted to comply with all the requirements of the conventions. An IDP may be required to drive a motor vehicle in countries outside the European Economic Area. Please note that an IDP is only valid in conjunction with an Estonian national driving licence.

Which IDP should you apply for? The easiest way is to select a country on this page. Clicking on the country’s name will show the convention under which you may need an IDP. If the name of a country is not listed, it is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention or the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic.

The 1968 Vienna IDP is valid for three years. If the national driving licence expires within three years, the IDP is issued for the same period of validity as indicated on the licence. A sample IDP can be found here.

The 1949 Geneva IDP is always valid for one year. A sample IDP can be found here.

CONDITIONS FOR ISSUING OF IDP:

• Valid right to drive
• Valid Estonian national driving licence

YOU MUST SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING TO APPLY FOR AN IDP:

• An identity document;
• An unprocessed colour document photograph (35 × 45 mm; click here for full requirements);
• A letter of explanation or certificate from a police or rescue authority if your former IDP was lost, stolen, or destroyed;
• The state fee (which can also be paid on the spot with a bank card).

IDPs are issued on the spot at service bureaus. We do not offer postal delivery services.

A digitally signed application, along with photographs of the front and back of the applicant’s Estonian driving licence and a paper photograph, can also be e-mailed to info@transpordiamet.ee. The application must indicate the service bureau from which you wish to collect the document. In this case, you must send the paper photograph by post to the service bureau from which you wish to collect the IDP. IDPs can also be collected by a person authorised in writing to do so.

An IDP is replaced when it expires or becomes unusable, upon changes in the holder’s data or in the category of their right to drive or if the holder of the document cannot be identified from the photograph. Lost, stolen, or destroyed documents must be reported to the Transport Administration even if you do not wish to apply for a replacement.

The texts of the conventions and the lists of their contracting states can be found here.

• Texts of conventions: Vienna 1968 (PDF); Geneva 1949 (PDF)
• Lists of contracting states: Vienna 1968; Geneva 1949 

Please note: Countries are considered contracting states if there is a date next to their name in the ‘Ratification, Accession (a), Succession (d)’ column. If communicating countries have joined both conventions, the later one (i.e the 1968 Vienna Convention) applies. For instance, when communicating with Russia, we are guided by the Vienna Convention, while we use the Geneva Convention as the basis for relations with the USA.

IMPORTANT:

• Driving licences and IDPs compliant with the convention are recognised by contracting states as long as the holder has not taken up residence in the territory of that state.
• Neither convention requires a contracting state to recognise a driving licence issued in another contracting state if it was issued while the holder resided in its territory. For example, Ukraine is not required to recognise an Estonian driving licence if it was issued at a time when the holder of the driving licence was residing in Ukraine.
• The exchangeability of driving licences between contracting states is not regulated by the conventions. Each country organises such exchanges pursuant to its national legislation.