Customs on my way to Europe

You will go throught security in the states
You will go through passport control upon arrival in Iceland and then security prior to boarding your onward flight.

Both Iceland and France are in Schengen so there will be no customs and no passport control in France.

If you are catching another flight out of Paris, and if that flight is not to a Schengen country you will have to go through passport control when leaving Paris and probably customs when arriving in the non Schengen country. If your flight out of Paris is to a Schengen country there is nothing to do but get on the plane.

In Iceland, you will go through passport control/immigration. When you get to Paris you will go through customs. This is just a walkthrough and will probably not be stopped. Whenever you change planes, expect to also go through an additional security check.

Many people confuse the term customs to include passport control. Immigration/Passport Control is when they check you and your documents. Customs is when they check your stuff.

Where is that continuing flight going? Where it is going will affect how much time you will need. If it is in the Schengen zone then the flight will be like a domestic one in the U.S. If it is outside Shengen, you'll have to get an exit stamp on your passport. This could take awhile.

Assuming that your flight does not arrive early, IMO, there is very little chance that you are going to make a flight one hour later from CDG unless it is in the same terminal as the one where you arrive, you move very quickly and you checked in online ahead of time and have a boarding pass and your flight is going to another Schengen country. What is the check-in deadline for the flight if you are unable to check in ahead of time? If you are buying the flight from Paris on a separate ticket, make sure that you buy a ticket the value of which will not bother you if you do not make the flight and get no credit for the unused ticket.

Since both Iceland and France are in Schengen I believe any customs check will be in Iceland as that will be the Schengen pot of entry. But I guess I could be wrong. As for security, what is common and what might happen are two different things. Two weeks ago many passengers were checked 3 times in Amsterdam. So who knows .....

Customs - which, as is mentioned above, is a different thing from passport control - needs to happen when you have all your stuff (including checked bags) in your possession. In this case, if Minnesota to Reykjavik and Reykjavik to Paris are booked on a single ticket (for which you have the option of checking a bag), then you can't go through customs until you get to Paris.

But unless you're carrying a suitcase full of tobacco products, or similar, going through customs takes no time at all. You walk through the door marked "nothing to declare" and out of the airport.

buzzard man, you are absolutely correct. My bad..

Is the "second flight" AFTER landing in Paris CDG really a third leg with MSP to Iceland being the first and Iceland to CDG the second leg. If you only have a hour to connect at CDG, you should book the three legs all on a single ticket such that the seller is responsible for getting you to your final destination.

The French do not move very fast and my 90 minute connections at CDG have been tight with no time to spare. I have had to go through security screening at CDG after immigration control. Security lines can be just as long as passport control lines.

And yes, customs in Europe tends to be just walking through the nothing to declare (assuming you don't have contraband and/or more than $10,000 in undeclared cash.

Thank you, everyone! This is incredibly helpful!

The next flight is on a separate ticket as I wasn't sure where I would be headed to once I landed in Europe. I will be going to Scotland from Paris. I've personally never had issues flying in and out of CDG as far as timing and such goes, BUT I also realize I probably shouldn't risk it if I don't have to. It's often the time you risk it on an expensive ticket that you find yourself up a creek.

Thanks again for the help!

Google Flights says you can fly straight from KEF to Scotland EDI or GLA. Or is it too late to make the change?