Customs

First you will go through immigration (passport control). The immigration officer will look at your passport. Sometimes they ask you questions about your visit(e.g. How long are you staying? What is the purpose of your visit? etc.). When they are satisfied, they will stamp your passport. If you have baggage to claim you pick it up before exiting customs. Customs is about the goods you are bringing into a country. For most tourists, this is a non-event because most tourists have nothing to declare. Assuming this is the case, you choose the "green" (nothing to declare) lane and exit the secure area of the airport.

It is also probably worth noting that your immigration check will be at the first stop in the Schengen zone, since you are traveling to Italy. So if your flight is not direct to Italy, maybe STL to Paris then to Rome, immigration will be in Paris, Rome, you walk off the plane and go.

If you check your bags through to your final destination and have a connecting (domestic)flight chances are you won't go through Customs at all.

"If you check your bags through to your final destination and have a connecting (domestic)flight chances are you won't go through Customs at all." As noted above, "going through customs" is a non-event, you just walk through the "grreen line" door. But this comes after baggage claim, and you can't leave the airport without "going through customs." It just doesn't take any time, and you may not even know you are doing it.

Flights from one EU country to another do not have customs. Same as flying from one US state to another.

But perhaps you are asking about customs on your return to the U.S. You can get a pamphlet - probably at the airport, if not online - that will give you a list of the items that are prohibited (like fresh fruit, submachine guns . . .), items that are limited (like 1 liter of whiskey per customer duty-free - you can bring in more but you have to pay customs duty on the excess), and the total dollar amount of purchases (including gifts for others) that is duty-free (maybe $400??). There are also some items that are duty-free always (e.g., original art work - but you must have a certificate). On the plane coming home, you will get a card to fill out, declaring what you are bringing in (this does NOT include anything you took with you and are returning). Most people are under the limit. You are asked to list what you are bringing back - I usually put something like "gifts and souvenirs" with a rough estimate of the total value. Some people itemize (but there is a very small space on the form). You will go through passport control, collect your checked luggage and then go through customs at your first stop in the U.S., perhaps you are connecting through JFK or O'Hare. After customs, you will recheck your luggage for your flight to St. Louis. Some airports have sniffer dogs for food items. I got stopped once in San Francisco because I had a piece of (forgotten) fruit in my backpack that I had meant to eat on the plane. They opened all my bags (I brought back a lot of stuff) and they went through it all. Nothing was contraband or over the limit. It was just a minor inconvenience.

"Flights from one EU country to another do not have customs. Same as flying from one US state to another." Technically, not true. While there are no passport checks between countries in the Schengen Zone (not to be confused with the EU), the individual countries still have the right to do customs checks, although they rarely do.

Thanks, Chani. That's exactly the info I was looking for. I appreciate it!
Lin

Customs is a breeze....except when leaving Israel.....which I did not mind.

Flights from one EU country to another do not have customs. Same as flying from one US state to another. Sorry, I disagree. Schengen maybe, although they still have the right to and selektively still do, but certainly not EU. The UK is certainly in the EU and everybody going into or out of the UK will pass through a Customs area whether they notice it or not.

re US Customs forms. When we came back to USA a year ago, they had dome away with the cutoms forms for arriving USA Citizens and Permanent residents (October 2011). This is the first time i had experienced that. (The forms where we used to enter "souvenirs and gifts" with an estimated value ). Can anyone else comment on this

US residents still have to fill out the Customs form. I've done three overseas trips this year and had to use them each time.

What Michael said. I've made more than a dozen re-entries this year and had to fill out a 6095b every time.

Brian, Are you enrolled in Global Entry? If you use the Global Entry kiosk, there is no paper form to fill out but you still answer subset of the customs questions online and get you a printed receipt to take to the customs officer.

Re-entry into the States can take awhile so make sure you allow enough time between your flights. Going thru Dallas last year, the long line for passport control, picking up my luggage to go through customs, and then checking the luggage back in for the next flight took several hours. Many people did not make their connecting flights and had to reschedule. And, yes, the beagles are there to sniff your luggage. We were in Italy, in October, two years ago and absolutely loved that time of year. Have a great trip!

Brian, I had to fill out the customs form, too, when coming back from Spain this year. Not sure why you wouldn't have had to do it.

As Denise pointed out, it can take time. If you are ticketed through to St. Louis on one airline, they have to take care of you. But if you bought separate tickets for your domestic flight, and you miss it, you are own. That happened to friends who bought separate tickets from SFO to JFK to get more miles, then flew international on another airline from JFK. They missed the connection outbound by 5 minutes (the plane was still at the gate, but they'd just closed the doors). They got on the next flight, the next day, but had to make their own arrangements for their overnight stay. JB - leaving Israel (like leaving anywhere), you had to deal with security, not customs. Of course, security here is not like anywhere else. . . keep your shoes on and bring lots of liquids.