Who can file here from 31 August 2026
Residents of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, whatever their citizenship. Bern re-uploaded its DTV checklists on 31 August marked “as at 1 September 2026”, and updated the DTV alone: every other category is dated spring 2025.
What changed, word for word: the proof-of-current-address document has been replaced by proof of permanent residence, a valid Swiss residence permit card for example, and a criminal record certificate has been added. Any residence permit card will do, B, L or G, not only C. Judging by the first reports, on 31 August an applicant was asked for nothing but an identity card as proof of residence.
The criminal record certificate
The Swiss criminal record extract costs 17 francs, takes about two weeks and arrives as a digital PDF in which English can be chosen as an additional language. Bern sets no validity period for the certificate for the DTV. But in its own legalisation rules the embassy writes that an apostille is not accepted, and that a criminal record certificate for legalisation has to be no older than two months. An apostille does not work for Thailand under the Convention either: it enters into force there on 28 February 2027. A digital extract cannot be apostilled at all.
How filing works
- Everything online, through the e-Visa portal. The fee is 350 CHF, the most expensive among the European posts, non-refundable; nothing can be corrected after filing.
- Timeline per the post’s site: about ten working days, and from eight to twelve weeks for certain nationalities.
- A document request has to be closed within 30 days, or the application is cancelled without notice.
- Screenshots and blurred files are expressly forbidden: full documents only.
- Finances: no less than 500,000 THB, which is about 12,300 CHF, or a sponsorship letter; the same for every dependant.
- Dependants: a spouse and children under 20, with a criminal record certificate and no age exemption.
- The embassy’s visa telephone line does not work; contact is by email only.
We have no reports of completed filings under the new rules, and we quote no timelines beyond the post’s own.
What else matters
Bern has agent filing open in the e-Visa system, but the local agency accredited by the embassy does not handle the DTV. Our model here is the same as everywhere: you file yourself, we prepare the package and see it through to the result. From 15 September 2026 visa-free entry for Swiss citizens drops from 60 to 30 days.
What we track here
The first decisions under the new rules, and how Bern will treat certificates older than two months.
A package you have assembled yourself we check before filing — the Preflight Check: $300, a written report within two working days. Full support all the way to the visa is the Solo Route and Family Route.
The state of every consulate is on the live board, and the consulate assigned to your country is on the map.