Hi HeelLaw.

The answer is: it depends.

If your luggage is not checked through, you will need to clear immigration at Amsterdam, collect your luggage, clear customs, and check in again.

If your luggage is checked through (or you are hand luggage only) and you don't have a boarding pass for your connecting flight, you can check in at one of the airside transfer desks without clearing immigration or customs.

If your destination is a Schengen country, you clear immigration at Amsterdam and customs on your hand luggage, at the transfer points between E/C or D/C gates. The connecting flight is then treated like a domestic flight, except that you must clear customs for your checked luggage (green channel instead of blue).

If your destination is a non-Schengen country, you don't clear immigration or customs at all at Amsterdam, only at your destination.

If I remember correctly, all EU countries bar the UK and Ireland are now Schengen countries.

One tip - if you do go through the Non-Schengen - Schengen tranfer between E and C, and the lines are huge, walk round the corner towards the D gates, where the lines are usually much shorter.

Feel free to correct, everyone!