Who can file here from 31 August 2026
Germany is split between three Thai consulates, and the split follows the federal states. Frankfurt takes anyone registered in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland or Thuringia. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg belong to Munich, the other nine states to Berlin.
Permanent residence, Daueraufenthalt, is not required here, and that is the main thing the German market needs to know: the only German-language competitor still writes the opposite and turns away clients who would pass. German citizens need an identity card and a registration certificate, the Meldebescheinigung, no older than six months. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland need the registration alone. Other foreign nationals need a residence permit card, the Aufenthaltstitel, plus registration, and the address on the card has to match the address in the registration: no other post has that requirement. The post does not specify the type of residence permit.
Frankfurt rewrote its page for the 31 August rule on 1 September. The German posts made no public announcement; the requirements simply sit in the text of the pages and in two Thai foreign ministry documents.
The criminal record certificate
A Führungszeugnis no older than six months from the Bundesamt für Justiz, the federal office of justice. Frankfurt is the only one of the German posts to have named the issuing authority. Translation and apostille are not mentioned on the page: the data in the certificate is printed in German, English and French. It costs €13 and comes on paper only; it is not issued to anyone under 14, and 14 is exactly the age from which Frankfurt requires it.
For anyone applying from abroad: the signature on the application is certified by a German consulate, a local authority or a notary. An apostille does not work for Thailand yet: the Convention enters into force there on 28 February 2027.
How filing works
- Everything online, through the e-Visa portal. The fee is €350, non-refundable; nothing can be corrected after payment, and a mistake in a name costs another €350.
- Timeline per the post’s site: 15 working days, and another 15 if documents are requested. The applicant is in Germany for the processing period.
- Finances: no less than 500,000 THB, which is about €13,100, plus three months of statements; a sponsorship letter is allowed.
- A portfolio is accepted as grounds for remote work in its own right.
- Dependants: a spouse and children under 20.
In our single case a decision from Frankfurt came in 12 days, a request for a CV landed an hour and a half after filing, and the applicant was called in for an interview in person. One case is a direction, not a statistic.
What else matters
From 15 September 2026 visa-free entry for German citizens drops from 60 to 30 days. The e-Visa form is the same one for every consulate in the world, and its requirements can be stricter than the post’s page: we assemble the package for the form.
What we track here
The first decisions under the new rules, and the practice on residence permit cards where the address does not match. Three German posts read one rule three different ways, and the choice of post inside the country is settled by registration alone.
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.