It also depends on the country of your passport. Passports from "first world" countries don't get hassled. Also, remember, that local police in many places in Europe have the authority to stop and ask you for your papers. If not everything is in order you might have problems.

While I agree there is little risk from a security perspective, the lax approach to entering the Schengen Area in some countries such as Italy have caused countries such as Denmark to be a bit more protective of their borders. Here is a BBC article, one of many on the subject.

It would still be prudent to check that the person standing there is the person for whom the passport was issued.

Denmark's border controls have little or nothing to do with "lax approach to entering the Schengen area" at normal airport immigration checkpoints, and everything with fear of brown people who are illegally entering Schengen via sea or land.

Normally this has already been done at least once, and in many cases several times, by airline staff, airport officials and/or immigration officers in the country of departure.

I'm an immigration officer. We find fraudulent documents all the time. Sometimes airport officials are even involved in facilitating those frauds.

I wasn't really worrying; I was merely interested with what I saw, and this is not something I am used to. I travel most frequently to the United States, and I can guarantee you that the exact opposite happens. I am questioned, fingerprinted, the officer flips through my passport, and checks my visa before I am admitted*.

*= I am not complaining about the procedures, which is normal. Most of the officers I have met are respectful and the entire ordeal takes less than five minutes.

I was using a Hong Kong passport; not sure what standing it has with European officers, but hopefully a good one. Unfortunately, it is not good enough for the US yet and the HK passport is not included in the VWP.

A US passport isn't good enough for the US any more (see the thread about asking for extra ID)

:eek:

CDG stamped my recently expired/cancelled passport last month without even looking at the front page (cancelled passport was attached behind the current passport). The guy was on his phone, so he just flicked open a random page and stamped without looking.

In the past, I've actually had to go hunting for immigration officers at CDG after jumpseating in on a Daallo Airlines flight from London to Djibouti (that made a stop to pick up passengers in Paris) when they didn't expect any arriving passengers. The doors to France were literally left open to stroll through!

Try finding an immigration officer when arriving by ferry from the UK. Most of the time, the doors to France are wide open. ^

Really, this is the way it ought to be. Terrorism is not a threat - really, it's not. You are far more likely to die in a traffic accident. Airport security should be kept to an absolute minimum, customs between friendly countries should be only a formality.

As other posters have pointed out, most illegal immigrants attempt to sneak in via surface transport - at the moment, thousands of people are coming by sea from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

Terrorism is not an immigration officer's primary concern—compliance with immigration legislation is.

Switzerland is not a Schengen country. That said, I agree that migration process in airports are heavily supported by airline check in procedures, so anyone coming in a plane, had to have a minimum of “legal” documents as to get to that point. Migration officers in airports are aware of that and are more relaxed.

Now, Schengen by itself is full of loopholes. You can take a plane from London to Gibraltar, land and walk into Spain looking like a tourist who is coming back from a day in the rock, and chances are you will not be asked for any type of document. But hell, you can also take a boat from Africa and land in Italy (or Greece) and you are in…

It’s like crossing the river from Mexico to the US… There is always a way to come in, and believe me most of the time its nor through airports, since you need documents at the point of origin to board.


Every country will be more careful with different “possible” immigrants. For example, now in Spain, if you hold a Latin American passport, they will reinforce the rule that you need a return ticket, proof of economic solvency, a hotel reservation, and if they are not satisfied, they could deny your entry, but its because there is always a percentage of “tourists” that turn into illegal immigrants, and if they speak Spanish and come from a less developed country, they are more likely to be…

Entering Spain with a US passport, is a piece of cake, no need to show anything, if an American wanted to become an illegal immigrant, it would be more likely to attempt the UK, and not Spain, so they are more relaxed…

It’s a matter of what they are after. If they are after illegal immigration of if they are after terrorism, ad not all countries feel the heat of terrorism, so they are more concerned with illegal immigration.

Now, if you are a Latin American with the intention of staying in Spain, the best way around it is flying to Madrid via Paris. That way you will face French immigration agents that as soon as they see you are leaving France (ticket to Madrid) they stamp and let you through, Its not their problem, it’s the Spaniards problem… Of course, if you come from a French speaking African country, you will better have a return ticket, money and credit cards, a hotel reservation and look clean and affluent…

It has been since December 2008.

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport has Spanish immigration officers stationed there who work mostly at the times that the KLM flights from Quito, Guayaquil, Lima, Panama and Mexico arrive at AMS.