Sri Lanka International Driving Permit (IDP) Fee Calculator

An International Driving Permit (IDP) translates your Sri Lankan driving licence into the languages set out in the international road-traffic conventions, so police and car-hire firms abroad can read it. In Sri Lanka only the Automobile Association of Ceylon (AA Ceylon) is authorised to issue it. This tool does two jobs: it totals the AA Ceylon cost, and it tells you whether that permit is actually recognised where you are going.

The recognition check is the important part, and it hinges on which UN convention each country has signed. Sri Lanka is a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, so AA Ceylon issues the 1949-format permit. That format is recognised by treaty in every other 1949 Geneva country — the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, and the UAE among them. A separate treaty, the 1968 Vienna Convention, uses a different permit format. Some countries — Germany, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman — are party only to the 1968 Vienna Convention, not the 1949 Geneva one. For those, a Sri Lankan IDP is not the treaty format, so acceptance is discretionary and the tool flags it in amber. A few countries, such as China, have signed neither convention; there your IDP is not treaty-covered at all, shown in red.

The cost is a flat published schedule, not a percentage, so the maths is a simple itemised sum. The base is the AA Ceylon IDP issuance fee — assumed at Rs 10,394 per permit (last verified 2026-07-06) — multiplied by the number of travellers, capped at 10 per application. AA Ceylon membership is optional; if you add it, the tool includes the exact first-year figure from the AA Ceylon membership page (Rs 8,224 ordinary, Rs 7,317 family). Every line is re-summed independently as a cross-check, so the total always reconciles to the parts.

Validity is fixed by the convention at 12 months from the date of issue and cannot be renewed abroad. You must also carry your valid Sri Lankan licence with the IDP at all times — the IDP is a translation, not a standalone licence, and only covers the vehicle classes already endorsed on your SL licence. The document checklist below is taken directly from the AA Ceylon application form.

• AA Ceylon — International Driving Permit service
• AA Ceylon — official IDP application form (documents, classes, process)
• AA Ceylon — membership fees (Ordinary / Family / Life)
• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic — contracting parties
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic — contracting parties
• Department of Motor Traffic — Sri Lanka driving licences

Fees and convention membership were last cross-checked against these sources on 2026-07-06. The AA Ceylon IDP issuance fee is set at the counter and revised periodically — treat the total here as an estimate and confirm the current fee before you pay. This page is reviewed whenever AA Ceylon updates its fees or a country changes its convention status.