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Customs

A friend and I are going to Italy in July. How long does it take to go through customs upon arrival?

Posted by
6898 posts

It's not Customs in Italy. It's immigration. The time to go through can vary depending on how many flights are being processed. It should not take more than 45-60 minutes depending on lines.

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks Larry - we have to go to a wedding in Romania for the first 3 days of our trip. It was cheaper to get round trip tickets from USA to Rome, then from Rome to Romania and back to begin our trek in Italy. So we want to be sure we have enough time between flights when we first arrive. I'm think then that if we have a full 2-3 hours between flights we should be ok...barring any long delays somewhere.

Posted by
1167 posts

If you are in transit and don't leave the secure area you may not have to go through immigration in Rome. If you can check your luggage to your final destination, do so, and it will avoid leaving the secure area.

Posted by
6898 posts

We did what Jeff suggested on our last trip to Italy. But, we were on Lufthansa on both flights so this worked well. We stayed in the secure area and transitioned from the international to the domestic area. Worked great. Our luggage didn't appear until Florence. No immigration there so we just picked up our luggage and walked out.

Two things. 1) is it the same airline on both legs and if no, will they transfer your luggage to a Romania flight. 2) If on a different airline from Rome to Romania, can you remain in a secure area for the full tranistion? Most U.S. airlines go in and out of Terminal 5. If the second airline is different, what terminal does it fly out of?

Posted by
4 posts

We haven't made our reservations yet - planning on doing that within the next week. So, I'm really glad I'm asking these questions now. You guys have been a great help -we'll know how to plan much better now. I'll probably be back with more questions. Thanks so much!