Customs in Italy
 

Going to Italy in about two weeks. Have been doing a lot of reading and have two conflicting opinions on whether you go through customs when you arrive from the USA. I saw someone say no, but my husband found a web-site about Italy that said you did have to go through Customs upon arrival from the US. I assume they would want to see if YOU brought anything into THEIR country? Has anyone been there recently that could answer yet another of my questions? We will be flying into Rome on Sept. 10th..

Yes, you will go through customs, but unless something is amiss it'll be nothing more than walking out the exit door after baggage claim.

You are supposed to pass through the RED lane if you have something to declare, otherwise you exit through the GREEN lane. There are customs officers keeping a watchful eye, but you will just walk right past them without stopping. They can and will stop you if they wish.

Many people don't even notice a red or green lane and just walk out.

I can't recall a single time I've ever stopped or been stopped at customs in Europe. Asia, yes, but never Europe.

You will, of course, pass through immigration upon arrival in Italy.

Customs is nothing - wheel your stuff through the green lane and wyou will be fne.

What can take time is :

Immigration - depending on how many international flights land at the same time and how close you are to the front of the plane (walk BRISKLY once you get off or you will be at the end of a very long line

Baggage - you may be lucky and get it right away - or it can take forever (I've waited almost an hour when several planes landed at once)

Than you walk right out the green lane

Though coming in by train at times means sniffer dogs sniffing your luggage for drugs or explosives at airports like others say you may pass thru Customs checks without even knowing it - your passport should be stamped for entry to EU however and that's it.

There are also officers at FCO behind one way mirrors as there are at Heathrow, presumably watching your face for signs of elation after you have successfully passed through the Green Lane without being stopped.

Thanks so much for the info. I feel better now about what to expect!

If you are flying non-stop from US to Rome, then yes, you go through immigration and customs in Rome. But if you are connecting at a European hub, such as Frankfurt, you go through passport control there as your entry point for Schengen zone and, your luggage presumably checked through to Rome, you go through customs at your final destination. But in reality there may not be anything there, as you'll arrive at the intra-Schengen part of the airport, where flights are treated as domestic. If you have anything to declare, you'll probably have to seek out a customs officer.

As mentioned, customs at FCO is a walk-through. Stay in the **Nothing to Declare** lane and walk out. This article has pictures of the FCO customs counter, the baggage retrieval area, and interior terminals. Also maps of FCO and arrival information coming from the US:

http://tinyurl.com/t3-baggage

You might also check on this posting on Arriving at FCO from the US:

http://tinyurl.com/FCO-arrive

Hey LF,

As noted, Customs is a walk through.

It is Immigration that can hold you up - sometimes for an hour or so.

((I))

Thanks for all the info. I will be flying in from USA via Amsterdam next week with ONLY CARRY ON LUGGAGE. What is the FASTEST WAY OUT THROUGH ALL THE BAGGAGE CLAIM- will be getting a hotel shuttle so guess I need to be by the meeting pole. Thanks.

Just follow the signs for the exits & go with the flow.

Well, you will probably take a little train to the main terminal, go through Immigration, then walk to Customs, choose the green lane, unless you have stuff to declare, then you walk through the door and find the shuttle, which may not be trivial.

I don't believe flights from AMS arrive at the remote terminal w/ shuttle train. Did something change?

You will pass through immigration in AMS, not Rome, so no worry about long lines in Rome.

Sorry, I was responding to the original 2011 post, not the hijack.

We were just there, nothing in customs lane at all..didn't even slow down, immigration line was 5 minutes tops.