Renting a Car in Baku With a Kazakh or Uzbek Licence

Short answer. You can rent a car in Baku with a Kazakh licence. An Uzbek one works the same way. Kazakhstan joined the 1968 Vienna Convention in 1994, Uzbekistan in 1995. Both licences are valid here by treaty. The script on your card decides whether you also need a permit.

Updated 9 August 2026.

Can you rent a car in Baku with a Kazakh licence?

Azerbaijan joined the 1968 Vienna Convention in 2002. Both Central Asian states joined a few years earlier.

So the legal answer is clean. Your national licence works.

Does the script cause trouble?

The script sometimes causes trouble. Azerbaijani police read Latin script, and both countries changed alphabets.

Kazakhstan is moving from Cyrillic to Latin. Uzbekistan already uses Latin on new cards.

A card with your name in Latin letters causes no questions at all.

A Cyrillic-only card is harder for a clerk here to read.

The Convention covers it either way. An international permit still smooths the desk.

How long can you drive on it?

You can drive on a Kazakh licence for thirty days from entry. Thirty days covers almost every holiday.

Working here for a season? Carry an international permit as well.

Do you need a visa?

Citizens of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan travel to Azerbaijan without a visa for short stays.

Check the current rule before you fly. Border policy changes faster than blog posts.

Bring the passport you entered on. The contract is written from it.

What language will you be served in?

You will be served in Russian, usually the easy answer here.

We also work in Azerbaijani, English and Turkish.

The contract is explained before you sign. Ask about the deposit and the fuel rule.

What is different from driving at home?

Driving at home and here differs mostly in distance, not rules. Fuel costs 1.10 AZN a litre.

The rules will feel familiar. The distances will not.

Azerbaijan is small. Baku to the Georgian border is under 500 km.

You can see the mountains, the desert and the sea in one week.

Where is worth driving?

Quba, Khinalig, Sheki and Gobustan are worth driving to from Baku.

• Quba and Khinalig in the north, high villages and a real mountain road
• Sheki for the Khan’s Palace and the Silk Road caravanserais
• Gobustan for rock art and mud volcanoes, an hour from the city

None of these needs a four-wheel drive in summer. Khinalig does in winter.

Start with our Baku to Sheki road guide.

Fuel sums sit in our fuel price guide.

How far apart is everything?

Everything is 65 to 370 km apart, shorter than you expect. The distances surprise visitors from Central Asia.

Two of these fit into one day. Three is a stretch worth avoiding.

Roads to all of them are paved and in good condition.

What do you bring to the counter?

• Your national licence, the original card
• Your passport with the entry stamp
• An international permit if your card is Cyrillic only

Photos on a phone are not accepted at our Baku counter. Bring the originals.

The deposit is 200 to 300 USD, in cash or blocked on a card.

What do we ask a Kazakh or Uzbek driver for?

• Your national licence covers the first 30 days after you enter.
• An international permit removes that 30-day limit.
• Passport and licence are the only documents we need from you.
• Deposit 200 to 300 USD, depending on the car. Cash or a card block.
• No mileage limit anywhere inside Azerbaijan.
• Minimum rental 2 days.
• Fuel comes back at the level you got it.

The country list of the 1968 road traffic treaty is public. The register sits with the United Nations.

We have rented cars in Baku since 2023 and run 105 cars today. The office is open 24/7 and the phone answers at night.

BookingCarBaku staff speak Azerbaijani, Russian, English and Turkish.

Flying in from Almaty or Tashkent? Message us with your dates and we will hold a car.