"Officially required", really? Do you have any source(s) to confirm this, would be interested to learn differently to what I've been told a few times (once from a lawyer with experience in the area)?

-----

Not that I'll believe everything found online... ...but this confirms what I've been told in the past: http://www.worldlawdirect.com/articl...s-license.html

"Nice" to have mostly because it translates your licence into multiple languages.

7 years ago when I did my first trip to the region I researched the driving requirements for driving. I wrote down the results for each country. Some of the countries require an International Driving Permit, while others require a Inter-American Driving Permit.
I don't remember where i found the information or a link to it. You can search if you like.

We just spent 20 month from Inuvik to Ushuaia. You do not need an IDL. We got them before we left in 2012. We were never asked for it. I never met anyone who was. Sara

__________________
Sara

Those who say something is impossible should not hinder those who are achieving it!





www.worldwideride.ca

HU RR Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride

Don't know what country you are in but according to the UK AA then this is the list of countries you should have one for however as members have said you may not need it

IDP requirements by country | AA

Wayne

__________________
The Balkans
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/poi_entity/8417

I don't think very highly of the various lists put out by national automobile clubs--they say the same sorts of things about the need for carnets. They're often totally full of it....or at least sadly mistaken or woefully out-of-date.

Unlike others posting above, I've needed my IDP a couple of times--once in South America (I think it was Guyana), once in West Africa (probably Ghana), and once or twice more in other scattered places. I've also used them when engaged in the standard gambit of piling on document after document to stun local functionaries, but that's a different story. So the moral here is that you never need an IDP....until you need it.

Kind've like genuine registration or licensing documents--I've used photocopies and/or defunct documents all over Latin America, parts of Asia and Africa, plus the entirety of Europe. Everything goes fine for months or years, until finally someone demands the real thing when I've almost forgotten I'm using fakes. That happened to me in Eastern Europe--no problems whatsoever until I entered Ukraine for the second time. It also happened in Central America, although I've forgotten which country: Honduras, maybe?

It gets more likely you'll need an IDP if you ever want to rent a vehicle. That's worth keeping in mind.

Hope this is helpful.

Mark

I needed it twice. Once to rent a car in Buenos Aires. Second time to show to the corrupt police chap in Bolivia after he radared me doing 90kph on a 10km straight stretch of road with no traffic where the limit was 80kph.

For the hassle it takes to get an IDP (2 photos, £15 and a stamped return envelope) I think I'd rather go with than without, but of course different horses for different courses....

__________________
http://sginsa.wordpress.com