Traveling from the US to Athens with a transit in Rome

Upvote:4

I have never personally been through FCO, but based on experience from multiple trips to ATH from the US transiting through various places in Europe, the overall arrangement will be:

  • Entry control (immigration) at FCO. Italy and Greece are both in the Schengen Area, and the rule for this is that you only have entry control at your port of entry, which will be FCO. Note that this is generally pretty fast for people who do not require a visa (many people, including US citizens, do not for short vacation stays), the longest I’ve ever waited at entry control at a Schengen airport was about 10 minutes at CDG (which is notoriously almost always running at or over capacity).
  • Customs technically at FCO. For any carry-on items, you’re officially supposed to make any required declarations at the port of entry (because that’s technically where you’re bringing those items in) by seeking out a customs officer. It is unlikely - unless you are carrying food, prescription (or restricted OTC) medications, large sums of cash (in excess of EUR 10000) or things you intend to sell or gift while in the Schengen area - that you need to declare anything though, and declarations for carry-ons are mostly not enforced for transit airports.
  • Airport security at FCO. Just like entering the US from abroad, you will need to re-clear airport security at FCO after clearing entry control. This is also generally pretty fast, especially if you’re used to dealing with big airports in the US like JFK or ORD.
  • Customs again at ATH after baggage claim. Pretty much all major Schengen airports, including ATH, have customs situated after baggage claim, and you will have to pass through to leave the airport. Note that despite FCO being your official port of entry, you are still officially arriving in ATH from the US, not from Italy, and must choose the correct channel at customs accordingly.

Upvote:6

Is there transit side immigration or do we go through immigration with those staying in Italy?

I've never been to FCO, but I can say that in some Schengen airports there are multiple immigration checkpoints depending on where you're going, and in others there aren't, so it could be either way.

Regardless, you don't need to be concerned about this except as a matter of curiosity. Just follow the signs to your gate and by doing so you will be guided to the correct immigration checkpoint: upon your arrival, you will be in a non-Schengen part of the airport, and your departure gate will be in a Schengen part of the airport, and you can't pass from one part to the other without going through passport control.

If for some reason your plans change and you check a bag, you won't see the bag in Rome. You will retrieve it in Athens. The customs checkpoint is after baggage claim. Even if you don't check anything, you will have to walk through the baggage claim hall to leave the airport. You should choose the red channel if you have something to declare and the green channel if you don't. The blue channel is for people who are arriving from another EU country, which (despite the transfer in Italy) you are not.

Upvote:9

Both Greece and Italy are part of the Schengen Area, this means that your FCO-ATH flight is an intra-Schengen flight, so you will go through immigration at your first point of entry, which is Rome (FCO) here

You will go through customs in Greece though, as the customs are behind the baggage claim, and you will not claim your bag in Italy

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