Who can file here from 31 August 2026
Canadian citizens and residents living in British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon. The rest of Canada, Manitoba and Quebec included, belongs to the embassy in Ottawa: the dividing line comes from Ottawa’s infographic of June 2025, and the “About the consulate general” page in Vancouver names the same three regions.
What Vancouver will take as “permanent residence” the post has not announced. Before 31 August a driving licence, a credit card statement or a licence renewal letter was enough — any document with an address on it. What a citizen shows now, and what a foreign national with a PR card or a work permit needs, will become clear from the first decisions; there are no cases yet from after 31 August.
The post’s site says nothing about the DTV
The consulate general’s visa page, updated in April 2026, does not contain a single line about the DTV: only “apply online at thaievisa.go.th”, a timeline of 10 to 15 working days, a PDF of fees and a note on common mistakes. Not one announcement about the 31 August rule. The requirements live inside the e-Visa form itself: since 31 August it asks for proof of permanent residence and a criminal record certificate. We assemble the package for the form.
The fastest post we have seen anywhere
In cases from 2024, Vancouver approved in two hours, in a day, in four working days; in December 2025 a family with children had their visas in six working days, and in August 2026 it ran five to six days from filing to issue. The consulate general answers the phone straight away, and in one case it confirmed by e-mail in advance that the purpose-of-travel documents would do. Whether that speed survives 31 August nobody knows: there are no filings completed under the new rules.
Just call the consulate. You are literally talking to the person who will stamp your approval. — ask.in.th forum, October 2024
How filing works
- Everything runs online through the e-Visa portal: the consulate general no longer accepts applications in person or by post.
- The fee is 650 CAD, set by consulate general announcement No. 1/2567 of July 2024. At the ECB rate on 3 September 2026 that is about 15,500 THB, 55% above the general fee of 10,000 THB. Legalising a document costs 30 CAD per stamp.
- Timeline per the post’s site: 10 to 15 working days. On the phone one applicant was quoted 7 to 14 days.
- Finances: per the form, three months of statements with a balance no lower than 500,000 THB, about 20,900 CAD. In 2024 Vancouver accepted a printout of the current balance with no history; by December 2025 it was asking for three months of statements with the balance holding above the threshold. We prepare three months.
- Standard document requests: payroll advice, what the business actually is and how exactly the applicant will work from Thailand, clarifications on the statement.
- Dependants: a spouse and children. In one case a dependant husband needed a marriage certificate certified by the embassy of the issuing country, and there was a flight to another embassy to get it; whether that is the norm or a one-off request is unknown. The children in that same case had their visas fifteen minutes after a phone call to the consul.
The criminal record certificate
The e-Visa form asks for a “certificate of criminal record clearance”, with no type specified. Canada has two. The police information check from the Vancouver force: 89 CAD without fingerprints, 114 CAD with them, the 25 CAD federal RCMP fee included; applied for online. And the RCMP certified check based on fingerprints: with no match in the database, three working days or less, with a possible match, up to 120 working days; the result arrives on paper by post only.
Which of the two the consulate general will accept has not been announced. The safe option is the fingerprint-based RCMP check: it will be accepted either way. Legalisation at Global Affairs Canada is free but runs a queue of about 25 working days plus postage, followed by 30 CAD at the consulate general — only if the post demands it. An apostille does not work for Thailand yet: the Convention only enters into force there on 28 February 2027. Before 31 August the certificate was never once requested from a Canadian.
What else matters
Judging by the e-Visa master data, Vancouver does not accept filings through agents: the applicant files from their own account. The site is in English and Thai only. From 15 September 2026 visa-free entry for Canadian citizens drops to 30 days.
What we track here
The first decisions after 31 August: whether Vancouver keeps its speed, what it accepts as proof of permanent residence and which type of certificate. We check the post’s page every week.
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.