Your guest is home, the bed is stripped — and the matter is not over. It runs another five years.
This step takes twenty minutes and consists of two moves: file and evidence.
What belongs in the file
The copy of the declaration, the proof of departure and your guest’s insurance policy. Together they answer the only question that will matter later: which stay was this, and when did it end?
If a letter does arrive
Reimbursement claims are rare but enforceable. The documents in your file then decide not the legal question but the factual one — and the facts are the part you can still influence today.
I put the declaration, the boarding pass and a screenshot of the booking into a folder named after the year of entry. Five years sounds long until you realise you need the folder exactly once — and then all of it at once.
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Lea recommends:
The first time I asked for proof of departure after the trip, by message, and got a blurry photo with no date. Now I ask before the return flight, while the boarding pass is still in the phone.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why keep proof of departure if liability runs five years anyway?▾
Because it answers the question that arises later: what costs actually arose during the stay your declaration made possible? A boarding pass and a stamp show that the visit ended on a particular date. Without that record you will be arguing years later about a date nobody remembers.
My guest wants to stay longer — what does that mean for me?▾
The core does not change: the five-year period runs from entry regardless of how long the visit lasts. In practice, though, a longer stay raises the likelihood that public funds are spent at all — and with it the risk that the declaration bites. If a change of status is on the horizon, the question belongs with the immigration office before the application, not after.
A reimbursement notice arrives — what should I do?▾
Do not ignore it. The claim is enforceable and objection deadlines are short. Check two things first: does the claim concern the stay your declaration made possible, and does the period fall within five years of entry? Both are questions of fact, and your filed documents answer them. For a legal assessment of the individual case, a specialist lawyer or advice centre belongs in the picture.
Do I have to report my guest's departure myself?▾
There is no general statutory duty on the host to report the departure — the declaration does not end with it either. Filing the documents is still worthwhile: it is the only thing with which you can later evidence what actually happened.