Driving in Andorra with a Montana Driving Licence: IDP Requirements and Rules
A Montana licence holder can drive in Andorra if the U.S. licence is valid and is carried with a valid 1949 Geneva International Driving Permit (IDP). Andorran law expressly recognises that IDP model with the national licence, and current U.S. State Department guidance says travellers must obtain an IDP before arrival. No fixed tourist-driving maximum was verified. A six-month limit starts after obtaining Andorran habitual or temporary residence.
Quick answer
The Montana licence alone should not be treated as sufficient for this trip. The verified route is the original valid Montana licence plus a valid U.S.-issued IDP. Liability insurance is also required. The IDP does not replace the licence or extend its vehicle categories.
How Andorra treats a Montana licence
Article 14 of the Andorran driving-permit regulation dated 2 July 2025 recognises international permits issued by non-EU and non-EFTA countries in the form of Annex 10 to the 1949 Geneva Convention when they are accompanied by the holder's national licence. Recognition is limited to the categories authorised by those documents. This provides the legal route relevant to a Montana licence holder using a U.S.-issued 1949 IDP.
Montana Motor Vehicle Division describes Class D as the standard noncommercial licence. It separately requires a motorcycle endorsement to operate motorcycles or motor scooters. An official Montana-to-Andorra category-equivalence table was not verified, so this page does not assume that a Montana category automatically maps to a particular Andorran category beyond what the original licence and IDP authorise.
IDP requirement and the applicable model
For this pair, the IDP is required, not merely optional guidance. The U.S. State Department page for Andorra says a traveller who plans to drive must obtain an IDP before arrival. U.S. government guidance identifies AAA and the American Automobile Touring Alliance as the authorised U.S. issuers and states that U.S. IDPs follow the 1949 Convention standard. Andorran Article 14 expressly accepts 1949 Geneva IDPs with the national licence.
Andorra also recognises 1968 Vienna Convention permits, but that does not change the U.S. document a Montana holder obtains. Use the official U.S.-issued 1949 Geneva IDP and keep the original Montana licence with it.
Visitor and resident rules
The current regulation checked does not state a fixed maximum period for a non-resident tourist to drive using the recognised documents, so max_visitor_days is not converted into a number. The six-month rule is a residence rule. Once a person obtains habitual residence in Andorra, or a temporary residence permit, the foreign permit remains valid for a maximum of six months if it is otherwise valid and the holder meets Andorran age and licence-experience requirements for the equivalent category.
A habitual resident must change the foreign permit for an Andorran equivalent before one year has elapsed from obtaining habitual residence. For convention-based third-country permits, Article 15 generally recognises the theory for categories A and B but requires practical tests for each category, subject to the reciprocity rule. Current conversion documentation for third-country permits includes authenticity and category-equivalence certificates with sworn translations into Catalan, French or Spanish. The exact Montana reciprocity outcome is unverified – confirm with official authority.
Rental-car requirements
Rental policy is separate from driving law. Europcar's Andorra page says the normal licence must be presented and that an international driving licence is mandatory where the domestic licence is in a different language from the renting country and/or uses characters that cannot be read there. It also lists a passport or identity document and a valid credit card for pickup. This is one named company's policy and should not be treated as an industry-wide rule.
Documents, police checks and insurance
Current U.S. State Department guidance says drivers in Andorra must carry travel documentation including driving permits, documents related to vehicle ownership and vehicle insurance. For this pair, that means carrying the original Montana licence and the required IDP together, plus the relevant vehicle and insurance documents.
The same U.S. guidance states that liability insurance is required for any car or motorcycle. Whether a personal U.S. policy, rental coverage or another policy satisfies the requirement depends on the policy terms and vehicle, so coverage should be confirmed before driving.
Relevant exceptions and category limits
The IDP is supplementary and does not create driving privileges that are absent from the Montana licence. A motorcycle requires the appropriate Montana motorcycle endorsement. Commercial, bus, heavy-vehicle and other specialised privileges should not be inferred from a standard Class D licence. Resident conversion has separate category, testing, translation and reciprocity rules.
Official sources used
- Portal Jurídic d'Andorra, Regulation of 2 July 2025 — verifies recognised foreign and international permits, the 1949 and 1968 IDP models, residence limits, conversion rules and resident translation documents. Checked 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Department of State, Andorra Travel Guidance — verifies the IDP-before-arrival instruction, liability insurance and documents to carry. Checked 2026-10-03.
- USAGov, International driver licence for U.S. citizens — verifies the authorised U.S. IDP issuers and that the IDP is carried with the U.S. licence. Checked 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Department of State, 7 FAM 1430 Driver’s Licenses — verifies that U.S. IDPs are issued under the 1949 Convention framework and that AAA and AATA are the authorised U.S. distributors. Checked 2026-10-03.
- Montana Motor Vehicle Division, Commercial Driver License and Motorcycle Endorsements — verify Class D as noncommercial and the separate motorcycle endorsement requirement. Checked 2026-10-03.
- Europcar Andorra la Vella — verifies the named rental company's published licence, IDP, identification and payment-document rules. Checked 2026-10-03.
Practical recommendation for Montana licence holders
Obtain the official U.S. 1949 Geneva IDP before travel and carry it with the original valid Montana licence. Keep the required vehicle and insurance documents with you. Confirm the chosen rental company's pickup rules before collection. If you become resident, begin the Andorran conversion process before the six-month foreign-licence validity point and verify the reciprocity and practical-test requirements for your exact categories.
Last verified
This information was checked against the listed official government, legal, licensing and rental-company sources on 2026-10-03.