The Spanish-speaking world is served by five Thai consulates: Madrid, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Lima. On 3 September we opened all five of their websites. Not one of them describes the 31 August rule: the words “permanent residence” appear nowhere on their pages, and neither do the words “criminal record certificate.” Yet the application form is the same one for every consulate in the world, and both documents have been sitting in it since 31 August. Anyone assembling a package from the embassy’s website will only run into the discrepancy once they are inside the portal. Here, country by country, is what is actually needed.
The form asks for what the websites don’t mention
Since 31 August the e-visa form has carried two new items under all three DTV purposes: proof of permanent residence in the country where the application is submitted, and a criminal record certificate from the country of citizenship or the country of filing. The document showing current location has disappeared from the form. This is a change to the thaievisa.go.th system itself, not the policy of one consulate: London rewrote its page on the 31st itself, Washington on 1 September, and the Spanish-speaking posts are so far silent. Silence does not cancel the requirements.
One detail no post explains: the wording about the certificate says “or.” A foreign resident of Spain or Peru can file the certificate of their country of citizenship instead of the local one, and the other way round. For anyone who finds the local certificate hard to obtain, that is a choice, not a restriction.
Who files where
| Consulate | Who it serves | Presence requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Madrid | Spain, Andorra | status, not location: legal residence |
| Mexico City | Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Belize | be in a country of the district for the whole process |
| Buenos Aires | Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay | be in a country of the district |
| Santiago | Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador | be in a country of the district |
| Lima | Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela | residents of the district’s countries |
Filing through an agent is closed at all five posts at the system level. The only lawful option: the applicant files in person, while we put the package together and see it through to the result.
Residence: what will be accepted
So far not one of the five posts has said whether it will count a temporary resident card as “permanent residence.” Madrid asks for legal residence, an NIE or a resident card, and the word “permanent” never appears on its page. Mexico City accepts a resident card, temporary or permanent. Buenos Aires and Santiago list an identity document, a resident card and even an entry stamp — but those pages were written before the rule. Lima publishes nothing at all. The first decisions of September will show how each post reads the form. Until then, we tell holders of temporary residence honestly that nothing is settled.
The criminal record certificate, country by country
| Country | Document | How to get it | What matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | certificado de antecedentes penales (criminal record certificate) | online with Cl@ve (the state e-identity system), €3.86, usually within a day | Spanish only, a sworn translation is needed; in practice it holds for about three months |
| Mexico | Constancia de Antecedentes Penales Federales (federal criminal record certificate) | online with your CURP (the personal ID number), 240 pesos, within minutes | payment by a Mexican bank card; legalisation at SEGOB is cheaper than an apostille |
| Argentina | certificado del Registro Nacional de Reincidencia (the national criminal records registry) | from 1,000 pesos for five days up to 8,500 for one hour | by law it is valid for five working days; a foreigner without a DNI can only collect it in person, with fingerprints |
| Chile | Certificado de Antecedentes | online with ClaveÚnica (the national digital ID), free | valid 30–60 days; the route for foreign residents is one we have not confirmed |
| Peru | Certificado de Antecedentes Penales from the Poder Judicial (the judiciary) | online, 40.40 soles, PDF straight away | foreigners with a carné de extranjería (the foreign resident card) also apply online; valid for 90 days |
Every certificate is issued in Spanish, and filing needs an English translation. The apostille does not work for Thailand yet: the convention enters into force for it only on 28 February 2027. Until then it is legalisation and translation: in Mexico, legalisation at SEGOB costs 782 pesos against 2,126 for an apostille.
Fees and payment
Madrid: €350 online. Santiago: $400 by Visa or Mastercard, not the 10,000 baht that has been hanging on its DTV page since 2024. Lima: $400 inside the portal. Buenos Aires: $400 in cash dollars only, the exact sum, in person at the embassy; it is the only mission in the region where the visa cannot be paid for online. Mexico City does not publish a figure and points you to the portal.
Processing times where the posts name them: Buenos Aires and Santiago, five to ten working days; Lima, up to ten, plus five more if documents are requested; Mexico City, five to ten. Madrid publishes no timeline — in our cases the decision came within a week. For Mexico City, Santiago and Lima we have no evidence of real filings, and we don’t quote figures we haven’t seen.
Yellow fever
Thailand requires an international vaccination certificate on arrival from 45 countries, and the requirement follows the route, not the passport. The list includes Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Paraguay and Panama. The vaccination has to be at least ten days before entry, and the certificate is submitted through form T8 (the arrival health declaration). A visa will not save you at the border without it. Mexico, Chile, Spain and Uruguay are not on the list.
What changes on 15 September
From 15 September 2026 the 60-day visa-free regime is abolished. Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba lose visa-free entry entirely: the embassy in Mexico City has announced that their citizens need a visa for any trip. Spain and the rest of the EU get 30 days instead of 60. Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil keep their 90 days under bilateral agreements: for them the DTV is not about getting in, but about staying longer without leaving every three months. Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Uruguay are absent from the visa-free lists altogether — their citizens need a visa for any trip.
What to do now
Start by ordering the criminal record certificate with its shelf life in mind: the Argentinian one timed to the filing, the Chilean one within a month of it, the Spanish and Peruvian ones can be ordered in advance. Prepare every document in English. Check whether your route falls under the yellow fever requirement. And if you are filing on temporary residence, start with the Preflight Check: it shows where the package will stumble before you pay the fee.
The page for each consulate, with the details: Madrid, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima.
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.