Driving in Saint Kitts and Nevis
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Grenada on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Grenada to Saint Kitts and Nevis · Driving and licence exchange
A visitor buys a temporary licence rather than relying on a foreign one, and the Act is unusually relaxed about how: a Licensing Officer may grant it with or without a driving test, and may entrust blank licences to companies and people named in the Fourth Schedule - car hire firms - who sell them and account for the money monthly. It runs for up to a year, and the fee schedule prices it at fifty dollars for three months or a hundred for twelve. What the Act does not contain is any way to exchange a foreign licence for a Kittitian one: section 31 requires every applicant for a driver's licence to produce a certificate of having passed a test, with no exception for an experienced foreign driver.
At a glance
- Visitor's temporary licence, maximum validity
- 1 year
Section 36(2) writes "a period not exceeding one year".
- Fee for a visitor's temporary licence
- $50 for three months, $100 for one year
The Second Schedule prices it in dollars without naming the currency; the Federation's currency is the East Caribbean dollar. Nothing is converted here.
- Driving test for a visitor
- At the officer's discretion
Section 36(3) allows the temporary licence to be granted "with or without any driving test", subject to conditions written on the licence.
- Exchanging a foreign licence
- No exchange provision in the Act
Section 31 requires the Licensing Officer to demand a certificate of having passed a test from every applicant for a driver's licence. No exemption appears in sections 26 or 30 to 36.
- Who may sell a temporary licence
- Companies and persons listed in the Fourth Schedule
Section 36(4). They must pay the fees to the Comptroller of Inland Revenue monthly, make quarterly returns, and keep a ledger.
- Ordinary driver's licence fee
- $50
From the same Second Schedule entry, which lists a dealer's licence at 6,000.00 and a driver's licence at 50.00, again without naming the currency.
- OECS licences
- Mutually recognised, per the OECS Commission
The Commission states that citizens of Protocol Member States may drive in any Protocol Member State on their home licence. No provision of the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act says so, and the Act as consolidated to 2020 contains no OECS provision at all.
- Minimum age
- 16 for a motor cycle, 18 otherwise
Section 32(1)(b) and (c), with section 32(3) adding that a Class L licence for anything other than a motor cycle is not granted under seventeen.
Requirements
- For a visitor: a temporary driver's licence, bought from a Licensing Officer or from a company or person entrusted with them under the Fourth Schedule
- For a visitor buying from a car hire firm: to be eighteen or over, and to produce a current driver's licence bearing your photograph, or other documentary evidence that the licence is yours
- For a resident: an application to the Licensing Officer in the prescribed form, and a certificate of having passed a driving test conducted by an Examining Officer
- Minimum age of sixteen for a motor cycle and eighteen for anything else
- Not to be disqualified, including by defaulting more than a month on a fixed penalty
In detail
A licence sold at the car hire desk
The mechanism in section 36(4) is unusual enough to be worth spelling out. The Licensing Authority hands blank temporary driver's licences to companies and individuals named in the Fourth Schedule to the Act, who sell them to visitors at the prescribed fee, remit the money to the Comptroller of Inland Revenue monthly, make quarterly returns of what they received and issued, and keep a ledger. The conditions the seller must check are minimal: the visitor must be eighteen or over and must produce a current driver's licence, and if that licence carries no photograph the seller must take other documentary evidence that it belongs to them. Nothing requires a test, a translation or an international permit.
No exchange, by omission
Sections 26 and 30 to 38 are the whole of the Act's licensing scheme and they were read in full for this record. Section 30 says an application is made in the prescribed form. Section 31 says the Licensing Officer shall require every applicant to produce a certificate of having passed a test. Section 32 lists the disqualifications. Nothing anywhere in the sequence lets an experienced driver substitute a foreign licence for the test, and nothing gives the Licensing Authority a discretion to waive section 31 as section 36(3) does for a visitor. A person who settles here on a work permit or as a permanent resident therefore has a temporary licence available to them for up to a year as a visitor and, so far as this Act goes, a driving test after that.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Grenada
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«A Licensing Officer may, upon payment of the prescribed fee, grant a temporary driver’s licence, other than a chauffeur’s licence, to a person who applies for the licence if that person is a *bona fide* visitor to the State.
(2) The licence referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be valid for a period not exceeding one year.»The revised edition notes this was originally section 37 and was renumbered on revision, so older references to section 37 are to the same provision.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«A temporary driver’s licence may be granted with or without any driving test on the part of the applicant, but shall be subject to such conditions as may be stipulated on the licence.»About this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The Licensing Authority may entrust to a Company listed in the Fourth Schedule to this Act or a person listed in the same Schedule Temporary Driver’s Licences for the purpose of issuing such temporary driver’s licences to genuine visitors who produce their current driver’s licences, except that the visitors must be eighteen years or above.»The practical route for most visitors: the licence is bought where the car is hired, not at a government office. The Fourth Schedule names the firms, so a firm not on it cannot issue one.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«not issue a temporary driver’s licence to a visitor whose current driver’s licence does not bear the visitor’s photograph unless the visitor produces other documentary»The sentence continues across the publisher's footnote block and ends "evidence to prove the driver's licence actually belongs to the visitor who has applied for the temporary driver's licence".
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The Licensing Officer shall require every applicant for a driver’s licence to produce a certificate of having passed a driving test conducted by an Examining Officer in accordance with regulations made under the provisions of this Act.»"Shall require every applicant" - the absence of an exchange route for a foreign licence is in the word "every". A test can be waived for a temporary visitor's licence under section 36(3), but not for a driver's licence.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«no person shall drive a motor vehicle other than a public service vehicle on any road unless he or she is the holder of a driver’s valid and unexpired licence»Driving without one is an offence carrying a fine of up to one thousand dollars, and the offender may be arrested without a warrant and fined up to two thousand.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«(b) driver’s licence 50.00
(c) visitor’s temporary licence: (i) for three (3) months 50.00
(ii) for one (1) year 100.00»The schedule prices three months and one year the same as a full driver's licence. It names no currency; the Act nowhere does.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, if the person defaults more than one month in payment of a fixed penalty pursuant to the provisions of section 85, and until such time as the penalty is paid.»An unpaid fixed penalty is a disqualification from holding or obtaining a licence, not merely a debt.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The negative claim that a foreign licence cannot be exchanged is bounded by sections 26 and 30 to 38 of the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Cap. 15.06, as consolidated to 31 December 2020. Section 24 provides for international certificates and temporary licences for motor vehicles - the vehicle, not the driver - and does not create a driver exchange. The Act's regulations run to several hundred pages and were not read in full, so a provision in subsidiary legislation cannot be ruled out.
The OECS Commission says driving licences are mutually recognised across the Protocol Member States. We found nothing in the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act implementing that, and the Act contains no reference to the OECS at all. A reader relying on it is relying on the Commission's statement and on administrative practice, not on this statute.
The fees in the Second Schedule are printed without a currency symbol throughout the Act. The Federation uses the East Caribbean dollar. We state the Act's figures and do not convert them.
Section 36(1) lets the Licensing Officer grant the temporary licence to a "bona fide visitor to the State". A person who has become a resident is no longer a visitor, so the temporary route is not a permanent substitute.
- consolidatesVehicles and Road Traffic Act, Cap. 15.06, Revised Edition showing the law as at 31 December 2020
Law Commission of Saint Christopher and Nevis · consolidated to 2020-12-31
About this source
Prepares the revised editions of Kittitian law and hosts the annual collections of Acts and statutory rules and orders.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current state of the citizenship-by-investment rules: it prints the 2011 Regulations as a schedule to the Citizenship Act with no indication they were repealed in 2023. Nor for completeness - the 2020 edition is a supplement of fifty-six chapters rather than a corpus, so absence from it is not evidence that a law does not exist, and the social security and income tax Acts are simply not in it. Nor for anything after a revision's cut-off: the income tax Act it serves is as at 31 December 2002 and prints Omitted because of cut-off date in place of a section. Its annual instrument folders are not exhaustive either; one begins at number five.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- administersFree Movement of Persons Regime in the Eastern Caribbean
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Commission
About this source
Administers the Eastern Caribbean economic union and its free-movement regime, and describes what member states have agreed to implement.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for any member's law. Where we have checked, only a handful of its claims are mirrored in a national statute: its statements about identity-card travel, driving-licence recognition, social-security portability and third-country spouses had no implementing provision we could find, and must be attributed to the Commission rather than to a country. A programme it describes as being implemented is not in force by virtue of being described.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source