Can I stay in my girlfriend's council flat during the time I visit her?

I am a US citizen, and I am attempting to visit my UK girlfriend visa-free for ten days. She has invited me to stay at hers and I have enough money to support myself during the vacation. However, I wasn't sure whether the fact that she lives in council housing would be acceptable by UKVI, regardless of whether she has invited me to stay. Should I book a hotel for myself instead?

uk visa-free-entry proof-of-accommodation

Best Answer

For a visa application, this would be complicated. If you were relying on her hospitality as a premise for the visa, you'd need to provide documentary evidence that her council is okay with her having boarders.

However, since you're entering visa-free, you're not going to be subject to as exhaustive a check at the border as a visa process would be. If you arrive with definite plans to return after 10 days (and return tickets booked, which the airline will have informed about through advance passenger information) and you make a reasonably non-destitute impression when you approach the immigration booth, it is pretty unlikely that they will take the time to inquire in detail about the sleeping arrangements.

For her own sake, your girlfriend should still investigate before your visit whether her lease allows her to have someone living with her for that amount of time. Depending on the precise rules she's renting under, her rates might be predicated on the size or total income of her household, and you'll want to be sure that your temporary presence is not going to upset that calculus.

You'll then know whether you need to book a hotel. And in the unlikely case that you're asked about it at the border, you can then say, yes we checked that and it turns out to be okay. Problem solved.