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Looking at the picture of an international driving permit (supposedly) that contains several typos on the first page (including one in the main title and one in a section title) made me wonder: How can I check whether an international driving permit is legit?

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    If you need to ask if it is a scam, it probably is. The IDP is used for very specific purposes, it does not really prove anything.
    – o.m.
    Commented Aug 5 at 4:32
  • Why do you need to check if it's legit? Are you getting one yourself, and looking for a reliable source, or are you in a position (e.g. work for a car rental company or other automobile business, employ foreign drivers, etc) where you need to check it? This will affect the best answer.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Aug 5 at 13:39
  • @StuartF thank you I am interested in both cases as well as a third case of checking the validity of someone else's international driving permit even when I don't need to. Commented Aug 5 at 15:49

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You can't really. It's just a piece of paper, often filled by hand, and in many cases not even by a government agency (AAA in the US, for example). It's purpose is to serve as a translation of the national driving license which may not be in any widely recognized language (e.g.: Japan) or use different classes of licensing (e.g.: the US).

But it must be accompanied by the national driving license, and in most cases foreigners must also carry their passports. That helps identify the person on the IDP, and confirming that they do in fact hold a valid national driving license.

In cases of doubt, as in the linked question, agencies may just refuse accepting it. I also know that sometimes agencies refuse to accept national driving licenses if they say "permit" on them instead of "license" - happens in the US.

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