Customs in Rome?

In November, we flew from Amsterdam to Rome. We didn't go through any customs in Rome. We walked right off the plane and out the doors.

Since Switzerland is part of Schengen, your flight should be treated as domestic. No PassportControl or Customs

No PassportControl or Customs

Well, technically there is customs, since Switzerland is not EU, but you would need to seek it out, and only if you had something to declare. The typical traveler would not need t worry about it.

FWIW, when entering Paris at CDG last month the guy in the booth said exactly nothing to me after briefly comparing my current appearance to my passport photo. Hardly reassuring if I were a French citizen. And when I picked up my bags, I just walked out of the airport.

what the standard customs time looked like

Are you going to declare something? Jars of carbonara sauce? More than $ 10,000? Live animals and/or endangered species? If not it looks like the time needed to walk through a door under a sign saying "nothing to declare". Don't pat the dogs staring at you while passing by.

.....technically there is customs, since Switzerland is not EU,..... There is no linkage between EU and immigration or customs. It is the Schengen zone agreement that allows easy transit between countries. If you are coming from the US on a flight that connects through Zurich, then you will go through immigration (passport control) in Zurich and customs in Rome when you have access to your checked luggage. Customs in Europe is much simpler than returning to the US. If you have nothing to declare -- about 99.9% tourists do not -- you exit through the Nothing to Declare doors. It is possible that an officer might to present but generally that is not the case. However, if you are already in Europe and happen to be traveling between Zurich and Rome, then it is like Houston to Chicago -- nothing.

There is no linkage between EU and immigration or customs. It is the
Schengen zone agreement that allows easy transit between countries.

And the Schengen zone agreement is part of the EU treaties since the Treaty of Amsterdam was signed, so there is certainly a link.

However, if you are already in Europe and happen to be traveling
between Zurich and Rome, then it is like Houston to Chicago --
nothing.

If you are travelling between two EU countries, e.g. from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, then it is like Houston to Chicago. No customs checks* since both those countries are part of the European single market. But if you are travelling from an EFTA-country, like Switzerland, you are crossing a customs border as they are not full members of the single market. And if you are travelling from a non-EEA country like Russia, Montenegro or the UK, the customs rules are the same as when travelling from North America.

*There might be checks, but since there is no customs border those checks are mostly about catching illegal objects.

There is no linkage between EU and immigration or customs. It is the Schengen zone agreement that allows easy transit between countries

Actually there is.

The European Union is an Economic Union, essentially creating a free trade zone, plus now, many more cooperative agreements. It makes for easy transfer of goods between the member states. As an example, Pre-Brexit, trade good moved freely between the the European mainland and the UK, but you had to go through Passport control, because the UK was not part of Schengen (Just as Ireland currently is not part of Schengen, but part of the EU).

Switzerland only joined Schengen in 2004, and started implementing it in 2008. It is still not part of the EU. So since 2008, you no longer needed to show your passport coming from Switzerland, but if you have goods to declare, you need to do so.

Movement of people (Immigration) and movement of goods (Customs) are two different things.

How about we make this simple.......When you arrive in Rome there will be no passport control. You then pick up your luggage and walk through the green door if you have nothing to declare or the red door if you do.

More than likely, you won't be stopped when walking through the green door.

Thank you everyone for the information! This is my first time in Europe so I wasn't sure how the process between countries worked. Good to know I don't need to plan on two hours for customs when we land!

You are aware you will be going through passport control in Zurich? That's your entry point into Schengen.

Yeah, I figured we'd go through customs in Switzerland and when we get back to the US, I just wasn't sure how going country to country worked or what the process was! Thanks for your help!

PLEASE learn the difference between Passport Control (Immigration) and Customs. They are not the same thing.

Thanks for checking! I know both, I just tend to use them interchangeably. I traveled abroad plenty before, I was actually in London in the fall and lived in Japan for a few years (so I dealt with both a lot when traveling back home) I just wasn't sure what the process between European countries was. Thanks for all the help! Traveling can be overwhelming sometimes and this forum helped a lot :)