Who can file here from 31 August 2026
Citizens of Spain and Andorra and anyone holding legal residence in one of those countries. The embassy puts it bluntly: without residencia legal — legal residence status — in Spain or Andorra you cannot file, and a foreign national has to show an NIE or a residence card. Madrid sets no requirement as to where you physically are: what counts is status, not location.
Madrid has not yet announced what exactly it will count as “permanent residence” under the new rule. Its page still carries the word “legal” rather than “permanent” residence. Whether an ordinary temporary residence card will pass, or whether they will ask for larga duración, the long-term permit, will become clear from the first decisions in September. Until there is practice, we promise neither outcome.
The embassy’s page and the application form disagree
Madrid’s DTV page has not been updated since January 2025, and the 31 August rule is not on it. But the requirements live in the e-Visa form rather than on the site, and that form is the same one for every consulate in the world. Since 31 August it has carried two new items: proof of permanent residence in the country of filing, and a criminal record certificate. Anyone assembling a package from the embassy’s page will see those fields only inside the portal. We assemble the package for the form.
The criminal record certificate
The Spanish document is the certificado de antecedentes penales, issued by the Ministry of Justice. Any adult can obtain one and citizenship makes no difference: the application form lists the NIE alongside the NIF and the passport. Online, with Cl@ve — the state digital identity system — or a digital certificate, it arrives almost at once, for a fee of €3.86.
Three things the embassy site will not tell you:
- The certificate is issued in Spanish only. Filing needs a sworn translation into English.
- An apostille does not work for Thailand yet: the Convention only enters into force there on 28 February 2027. Until then it is a translation and, where needed, consular legalisation.
- No validity period is set at federal level; in practice certificates are treated as good for about three months. We hold to the same: no older than three months on the day of filing.
The form allows the certificate either of the country of citizenship or of the country of filing. For a foreign national with Spanish residence that is a choice, not a restriction.
How filing works
Everything is remote: documents are uploaded to the e-Visa portal, the €350 fee is paid online, and handing in the passport in person has been abolished by the embassy itself. There is no interview and no appointment. You can file one to two months before the trip, and no earlier than three months out.
- The embassy does not publish a processing time. In our cases the decision came in about a week.
- Finances: a statement or a certificate of account balance of no less than 500,000 THB, or a sponsorship letter. The embassy names no statement period; in correspondence the consul asked for three months with transaction detail. We prepare three.
- Documents from third countries have to be in English with a certified translation.
- The photo: a real photograph, no older than six months. Photo-booth passport pictures are not accepted, and that is a frequent reason for a document request.
- The passport must be valid for more than six months.
- Dependants: a spouse and children under 20. Proof of relationship is not mentioned on the embassy’s page, but the form requires it, so we put the marriage or birth certificate in from the start.
What else matters
From 15 September 2026 visa-free entry for Spanish citizens drops from 60 to 30 days. For anyone used to living in Thailand for months on a stamp, the DTV becomes the only stress-free option.
What we track here
The first decisions on holders of temporary residence cards: they are what will show how Madrid reads “permanent residence”. And whether an official interpretation appears on the embassy site. Until then we tell holders of temporary residence honestly about the uncertainty and suggest starting with a Preflight Check.
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.