Driving license for expat with no Business Visa or Residence card

You can get it just on a tourist visa just like many others have done. The license expires per your visa and you have to go through it all again. The insurance is done in the name of the person on the blue card, not you personally, you will need separate insurance if you want it in your name.

thanks colinoescapee,

can i pls ask what is the blue card?

on a practical level, how expats manage the risk when driving in VN?  u think they comply?
as far as i know to be covered u need the following:
(1) personal medical insurance
(2) third party liability insurance and


I just read that if u enter VN with business visa, ( i have to check if this is possible with vietnavisapro.com - )  the conversion of your old license is easy

Prosedure is same no matter what Visa you got, but i did hear that your not allowed to transfer licenses anymore unless you have resident card.. don't know if this is true.

One way to go is International driving permit.

Blue card is your bike registration card what has owner name and bike details.. just don't loose it! Basicly having that means you own the bike.. possession is nine-tenth of the law in this case.

Think it as 3D video game where everything can kill you

thank you Wald0,


Can you pls detail how it works with the international driving permit?

You mean I  can convert that into a 3 months VN license?

You apply IDP in your country and carry that with you, no need to transfer that. If police stops you you would just show that.

Vienna convention IDP is valid 3yrs.

Ive heard so man6y con6flictin6g thin6gs. All UK licen6ces r in6tern6ation6al I thin6k, says so on6 my coun6terpart ( had my card licen6ce stolen6). Some said thats ok (don6t thin6k so). Some say u just n6eed an6 official tran6slation6 (would prob4ab4ly work???) others said u n6eed tran6slation6 an6d test an6d then6 con6verted in6to vietn6amese - even6 ur wife can6 tran6slate/ do the written6 test!

Dun6n6o, b4ut on6e viet kieu guy got it don6e for 30.000Don6g an6d a 2 min6ute test in6volvin6g ridin6g in6 a circle or sth.

xxx

Hi,

if its legal and safe i am interested.

I want to be covered and avoid any liability in VN. 
If, by mistake u hurt someone, or hurt yourself, what are you going to do: go in a VN jail?    hell NO.

Can I buy insurance with IDP?

thank you

I am retired and not working. Nor is there is any business connection to anything in Viet Nam except for a money losing farm  that we are trying to sell that is registered in my brother-in-law's name.

My VEC(Visa Exemption), proof of having been resident of Viet Nam for a specific(and forgotten period of time), and  a valid USA DL was all that I needed to get a VN DL.

To Thaiger
Is it correct from your post that you have a friend who can arrange a Vietnamese motorbike licence...possibly without taking the physical  bike test at the center in district 10....?
Gareth Uk

Gareth Uk wrote:

To Thaiger
Is it correct from your post that you have a friend who can arrange a Vietnamese motorbike licence...possibly without taking the physical  bike test at the center in district 10....?
Gareth Uk

You can give this guy a crack, he says no license,no pay.

http://vietnamesedrivinglicense.com/sp/ … cense.html

Guys, we know reality and the law are commonly different things, but you can't offer suggestions on how to commit crimes on the open forums.

colinoscapee wrote:

Gareth Uk wrote:

To Thaiger
Is it correct from your post that you have a friend who can arrange a Vietnamese motorbike licence...possibly without taking the physical  bike test at the center in district 10....?
Gareth Uk

You can give this guy a crack, he says no license,no pay.

http://vietnamesedrivinglicense.com/sp/ … cense.html

Yes, this guy is good! You only pay when you get your license. I did use his services when Hanoi office started to annoy me..

To Colinoscapee
Thanks for the info...will give him a try
Gareth

I contacted this guy. If your home country driving license still valid, then it will be $55.
If it expired, he charge $300 

I just got an email back from him, very prompt.

Yes he does charge $55 and the license will expire with your Visa,TRC etc .
BUT if you pay $25 extra per year it will extend the expiry.

He did note that if you only have a CAR license, it will only convert to a CAR license here.  So the may be a problem if you are riding a bike.

Vietnam ( on my last IDP) is a registered participant of the International Driving Permit system.
But, I keep hearing reports that they don't recognized that here.....?

Ah well,,in about 6 years I've never been pulled up.  Got nabbed in Thailand last year though, only a $12 fine.   

The main issue people have is the insurance position.  Personally I think the IDP would suffice as well as anything in that situation.   From a previous post here on another thread,, I mentioned that most insurance companies would consider driving here as a "hazardous pursuit" and exclusions would apply.   As I said, any accident here involving a foreigner , you will be surrounded by a few hundred Vietnamese all saying it was your fault so your cop the damage bill to both bikes,vehicles or property. 

The police here often won't accept a Robbery, Bag snatch report and document it, (you'll need that for any insurance claim) they often say your stuff was misplaced or lost.  They don't want the crime statistics to show the true situation here.   In that situation,,record the report audio on your phone .

We are not in our own backyard here, gotta think differently .