Guide to driving in Antigua and Barbuda with a Malta licence.
A Malta driving licence is not, by itself, the document that authorises a visitor to drive in Antigua and Barbuda. Under section 40 of the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, a bona fide visitor may receive a temporary local driving licence for up to three months. An International Driving Permit (IDP) is not the local legal authorisation, and Antigua and Barbuda is not a party to the 1949 or 1968 road-traffic conventions.
You can drive as a visitor once the temporary Antigua and Barbuda driving licence has been issued. The Malta licence is used as supporting evidence in the rental and permit process. A Malta-issued IDP is not a substitute for the local permit. The statutory visitor licence can be issued for a period not exceeding three months.
Section 30 of the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act requires a driver on a road to hold a driving licence. Section 40 creates the visitor route: the licensing authority may grant a bona fide visitor a temporary driving licence, other than a chauffeur licence, for up to three months and may impose conditions on that licence. The Act also allows an authorised self-drive hire vehicle owner to hand the licence to an applicant on behalf of the licensing officer.
For this pair, the practical consequence is that the Malta licence is not treated as the final driving authority. It is the foreign licence presented to obtain the local visitor licence. The exact vehicle class remains governed by the conditions and class shown on the local licence. Antigua and Barbuda law distinguishes motorcycle, private and chauffeur licences, while the visitor licence cannot be a chauffeur licence.
An IDP is not the legal document that authorises a visitor to drive in Antigua and Barbuda. Current UN treaty records show Malta as a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, while Antigua and Barbuda is not listed as a party to either the 1949 Geneva Convention or the 1968 Vienna Convention. Transport Malta uses a 1949 Geneva Convention form for the IDPs it issues.
There is a source distinction worth keeping clear. Transport Malta gives general guidance that an IDP is needed for driving in non-EU countries that are outside the Geneva Convention system. By contrast, Government of Canada travel advice for Antigua and Barbuda states that the IDP is not recognised there and that visitors must use their national licence to purchase a temporary local licence. For this reason, the IDP should not be treated as a legal substitute for the Antigua and Barbuda visitor licence.
The statutory visitor licence may be granted for any period not exceeding three months. Because the law states the limit in months rather than a fixed number of days, no day-count maximum is stored for this page. The provision applies to a bona fide visitor. The resident exchange, conversion, testing or grace-period rules for a Malta licence were unverified – confirm with official authority.
Rental procedures are separate from the legal rule. Yolie's Car Rentals states that drivers must hold a valid unrestricted home-country licence, that an international licence is not needed in most cases, and that the temporary Antigua permit can be arranged at pickup. J Will Car Rentals also publishes that temporary permits are available for international customers. These are company policies and services, not statements that every rental company follows identical terms.
Section 41 of the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act says a driver must produce the driving licence when required by a police officer. The Act also provides a route to produce it within 48 hours at a specified police station. For a visitor, the safest document set is the temporary local driving licence together with the original Malta licence used to obtain it.
No general rule was verified that makes insurance depend on carrying an IDP. Yolie's own rental terms state that its coverage and damage waivers are void when the driver lacks the temporary local permit. That is a named-company contractual condition, not a general insurance rule for all drivers.
The visitor licence cannot be a chauffeur licence and may be subject to conditions written on it. The current Malta M6 driving licence model uses English as its distinctive language and lists EU vehicle categories, but a separate translation rule for this exact Malta to Antigua and Barbuda relationship was unverified – confirm with official authority. Any entitlement shown on the Malta licence does not override the class authorised by the local visitor licence.
Take the original valid Malta licence and arrange the temporary Antigua and Barbuda driving licence before driving. Check that the local permit covers the vehicle you will use. If you obtain a Malta-issued 1949 IDP because of Transport Malta's general overseas guidance, carry it only as a supporting document and do not rely on it in place of the local permit.
This information was checked against the listed sources on 2026-10-06. Driving-licence, rental and immigration rules can change, so confirm any unverified resident or translation point with the Antigua and Barbuda authority or your rental company before travel.