The Thai embassy in Prague uploaded its new DTV checklist on the morning of 31 August. The file had been prepared on the 28th: the post knew about the rule in advance and was among the first in Europe to put its own reading of it in writing. That reading turned out to be the strictest of them all. We compared the new version against an archived copy of the old one and worked out what exactly changed for a Czech citizen and for a foreigner with a Czech residence permit.
What changed in the checklist
| Before 31 August | From 31 August |
|---|---|
| a foreigner “with residence in Czechia” | a foreigner “with permanent residence in Czechia” |
| a long-term or a permanent residence permit, both sides | only the permanent residence card, both sides |
| the applicant stays in Czechia for the whole process | plus: must be a citizen or a permanent resident of the country of filing |
| no criminal record certificate | a certificate no older than three months, legalised by the Czech foreign ministry (MZV) and officially translated into English |
What did not change: the 8,000 CZK fee, the processing time of five to ten working days, the financial requirement and the duty to be in Czechia the whole time the application is under consideration.
The main consequence: dlouhodobý pobyt — the long-term residence permit — no longer gets through. As late as 30 July the embassy was answering clients in writing that it accepted long-term cards. Those letters, and the screenshots of them going round the chats, now misinform. What you need is trvalý pobyt — permanent residence. Slovakia does not belong to Prague: Slovaks file through Vienna.
The certificate: where Czechs lose a week
The certificate requirement looks simple, and in practice it holds a trap nobody writes about. The výpis z rejstříku trestů — the extract from the criminal records register — is free through Portál občana (the citizen’s e-government portal), at a CzechPOINT desk (the state’s one-stop administrative counters) or at the post office. But the Ministry of Justice warns plainly: extracts like these are meant for use inside Czechia, and for abroad you need the extract applied for in person at the ministry. That is the only one the MZV will legalise. Anyone who turns up at the MZV with a CzechPOINT extract is sent back for the right one.
The chain looks like this:
- 1.The extract, applied for in person at the Ministry of Justice, 100 CZK, issued on the spot.
- 2.Legalisation of the extract at the Czech foreign ministry, 600 CZK, usually the same day, no appointment.
- 3.An official translation into English.
- 4.Under the embassy’s general instructions, the translation is legalised at the MZV as well.
The certificate is required from everyone: the main applicant, the spouse and the children — the text carries no exception by age. An apostille will not help: the Hague Convention enters into force for Thailand only on 28 February 2027, and until then legalisation is the only route.
The consular section of the Czech embassy in Bangkok issues extracts and does superlegalisation, but whether such an extract works for the foreign ministry instead of the one applied for in person at the Ministry of Justice, we have not confirmed. Check that with the embassy before you build a plan on it.
The fee: 8,000 CZK, not 6,500
The whole Czech internet keeps repeating “10,000 baht, about 6,500 CZK.” Prague charges 8,000 CZK, and that is confirmed by two official embassy documents. The fee is non-refundable and paid online. Finances: no less than 500,000 baht, which is around 314,000 CZK, statements for three months, a sponsorship letter allowed.
What nobody knows yet
We have not seen the first decisions under the new rules: the rule is a few days old. There are four open questions. Whether Prague will accept a certificate in English without legalisation. Whether a three-year-old child needs one. Whether the post will recognise the certificate of the country of citizenship for a non-Czech, given that it is the Czech foreign ministry that has to legalise it. And what happens to those who filed on a long-term permit before 31 August: the general caveat from Thailand’s foreign ministry says that anything filed before the rule is considered under the old ones, but Ankara has already shown that posts read it their own way. We are putting the questions to the embassy in writing and will update the post’s page.
Two reforms in one week
Alongside the DTV rule, Thailand cut visa-free entry: from 15 September 2026 Czechs get 30 days instead of 60. The Czech foreign ministry’s website writes about that and nothing else — not a word about the DTV — and many people confuse the two pieces of news. For anyone used to living in Thailand for months on a stamp, thirty days is no longer an option, and the five-year DTV becomes the only calm answer.
What to do now
If you hold trvalý pobyt or Czech citizenship: apply for the extract at the Ministry of Justice in person, have it legalised and translated, gather three months of bank statements and file while you are in Czechia. If you hold dlouhodobý pobyt: filing in Prague right now leads to a refusal, and it is better to know that before you pay the fee. The details and the open questions are on the post’s page, the state of every consulate is on the board.
If you are not sure whether your residence status qualifies or where to start collecting documents, message Mira: she will check your citizenship and status, tell you which consulate is yours and send you the preparation steps. A package you have assembled yourself can go through 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.