Lack of security entering Schengen
 

The last time I visited a Schengen country was in 2009, when I arrived in Geneva in Switzerland for a vacation (one of the most beautiful countries, by the way). I hold a non-EU passport, and the immigration officer asked me a few questions before stamping my passport and waving me through.

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?

Anyone have any similar stories or thoughts?

FCO is especially lazy. CDG is worse.

Indeed, I've "invaded" France and won several times with nary a blink. In one case the immigration booth wasn't manned and we just walked in. In FRA this past April I was stamped in and out without speaking one word and without the passport being swiped.

That said, I don't see it as much of a security risk as is implied in the OP. With the number of checks that now must happen even before boarding it is rather unlikely that there will be much of an issue.

Please forgive my ignorance, as I am not a frequent traveler to the Schengen zone. But it was my understanding that once you enter the Schengen zone through whatever port, you are free to roam (of course, you are still subject to random checks) through Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, etc. It would just seem like the lack of scrutiny at FCO could lead to not only illegal immigration or worse, terrorism, in Italy, but also in the other members of Schengen.

blq,vce,pisa, firenzia may or may not be manned(peopled). also, no customs inspection. i once saw customs people appear from woodwork and grab someone with a lot of large suitcases at blq. otherwise i have never seen an agent.

Your understanding is, excepting special circumstances that pop up from time to time, correct in terms of how folks are permitted to move within the region. Still doesn't mean that it is actually a risk. Relatively speaking airports are much stronger borders - in large part due to the number of other checks that happen during the air travel process, from flight manifest checking to airline agents involved in the process - than land or sea borders. From a simple "path of least resistance" concept it is somewhat silly to think that a terrorist group is out there somewhere planning on stationing their operatives in the Schengen zone by hoping the immigration officers are not paying attention that day.

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.

Please follow the discussion as the thread moves to the Travel Safety/Security forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

I've only been to France once, via Eurostar, and the French immigration officer at St. Pancras in London was talking on his phone and just stamping passports as people went through without even looking. I guess he figured that if you're good enough to enter the UK (since they usually do quiz you about your travels when arriving) then you're good enough to enter France.

My experience at Berlin-Tegel arriving from LHR was also very similar. A quick "guten tag" and a "danke" (which, along with scheiss, is the extent of my German ;)) and 10 seconds later I was through passport control.

To worry about illegal immigration by way of entry into the Schengen Zone at FCO or CDG makes little sense when most illegal immigration into and/or within the Schengen zone is done via surface transport. To worry too much about this being an always open door for terrorists entering into the Schengen Zone at FCO or CDG or any other major European airport requires suspension of disbelief, as fraudulently-acquired/used real identification is well within the grasp of any such competent persons and as those with a few thousand dollars can and do quite readily use surface transport means through illicit channels (and often do so without ID quite) regularly.

And contrary to popular misconceptions, an undocumented alien in the Schengen Zone doesn't ordinarily have an easy time of settling everywhere else in the Schengen Zone.

I think we had the same German teacher.

I found it to be the opposite. In FCO the IO didn't even look at me or my passport. I was waived right through. No one searched my luggage or hassled me at customs. CDG was more ridged, they actually looked through my passport and asked me what I was doing there. Still, no where near as bad as the UK or US, but at least they looked at my ID.

I think you worry too much. Way too much.

It might be an immigration issue, but it has nothing at all to do with security.

Virtually all of my Schengen entries have been conversation-free. A quick scan, a quick stamp, and I'm off. Even when I had police inspecting passports at the plane door of a Schengen arrival in Vienna, there was no real scrutiny at passport control.

That's my one exception, because Tegel was one of the rare spots where I was asked a handful of questions. Actually, on the whole, entering Schengen at German airports (TXL, MUC) has been more involved than any other entry point. (some questions upon exit too)

Again, one's MMV. I had some family members enter through CDG and not only did they only get a cursory glance at their passports and no questions, their passports were not even stamped, leaving them with no (immediate) proof of their legal entry should they be stopped (and they nearly were, at a random side-of-the-road checkpoint in the French countryside).

Nothing new here. With close to 30 trips to Europe from the mid-90s to 2004, I had a grand total of 5 entry stamps during that period. Except for the UK - I was primarily entering via FRA or AMS - I rarely got more than a nod or a little hand gesture to proceed when I held up my US passport. It got to the point that I didn't even slow down my walking when coming up to the immigration booth; I would just hold up my passport, make eye contact with the immigration officer and head on through.