Obtaining an International Driving Permit is fairly easy. However, you must know that this permit is not valid on it’s own. You need to have a valid driving license in your own country and use this as a supplement, to drive in another country. If you’re making a trip out of country and will be driving there, here are the steps to obtaining an IDP within America!
In order to get your IDP, you will need the following items:
- Two passport size photos
- $20 dollars in cash, check, money order or credit card
- Front and back copy of your original drivers license
Once you have gathered all the required items, the easiest way to get the license is to go to an AAA office near you. (AAA= American Automobile Association).
Click here to find an AAA office near you.
You will need to fill out the IDP form and submit everything together. The wait is no longer than a few minutes and you get issued an International Drivers Permit!
Another way to get the IDP is to mail out a filled out form to the AAA address along with all the other required items. It will take 10-15 days to get your IDP in the mail.
Things to know:
- The permit is only valid for 1 year. It expires after that.
- They don’t give you instructions or any information on HOW to drive in other countries…which means you need to look up rules and regulations of driving in that country.
- This does not apply to ALL countries in the world. Check the list of countries that the IDP can be used. A few countries require you to obtain a license from their own country in order to drive there.
- You must obtain the IDP in the country where your license is issued. Example: If you live in the US and plan on driving while in Spain, you must obtain your IDP from the US, not Spain.
Here are some things to keep in mind when you book your rental car.
- Some countries drive on the left side and have left sided cars. Do your research.
- Some cars listed are manual drive; make sure you look into detail about the car and don’t assume all of them are automatic.
- Smaller cars may be cheaper, but bigger cars may be more safe.
- Use a credit card that already offers insurance/coverage on rented cars so that you don’t have to get additional coverage.
Check out my How To Make An Itinerary post to see how I plan for our trip to Spain and Morocco!
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