Originally Posted by
weegraeme
Thanks. I would definitely consider Changi a safe airport. On a previous trip, we had to be security screened to get back on to the same aircraft we'd just got off.
Thank you all for your help. I'll take your collective word that it will all go well. It just seems strange to think about border control being in one country but customs being in another. But I'll take your word that that works, too.
Not really. The Schengen area is, in principle, a free travel zone, so it makes sense that you clear immigration for this zone at the first port of entry. You are then free to travel within this zone without further immigration checks. Customs is a completely different issue and deals with what you can bring into a country and whether or not there are duties to be paid. That is relevant only for the country you actually enter. So, if you were to end your travel in Helsinki, Finnish customs formalities would apply. If Helsinki is merely your first port of entry to Schengen and you are travelling onto France, Finnish customs authorities don’t care how many cigarettes you are importing, but their French counterparts do.
This is why it is important to distinguish between immigration and customs.