Originally Posted by
CX HK
I recently visited Italy and landed at their Rome FCO airport. Even as I walked up to the immigration officer, he was engaged in a conversation with the immigration officer next to him, and did not even bother to look up at me, or to even check my identity. He opened the passport up, stamped it randomly, and pushed it back, all this without his eyes ever focusing on me. As far as I'm concerned, with so many countries signing the Schengen Agreement now, wouldn't this be quite a serious breach of security, as one could sneak into dozens of countries through a lax airport such as FCO?
I am glad that some immigration officers still use common sense and know that 99.99999% of travellers pose no risk and should be welcomed with open arms. You probably have a passport from a relatively rich country whose citizens are not often engaging in terrorist or other illegal activities abroad.