Immigration Control at Civi

[CruzR887]

If a cruise ends in Civitavecchia do you go thru immigration control at the port as you exit the ship, or at FCO?  

[az_tchr]

1 minute ago, CruzR887 said:

If a cruise ends in Civitavecchia do you go thru immigration control at the port as you exit the ship, or at FCO?  

In 3 past cruises have not ever seen any sort of immigration control entering Italy in the past. Would hope they had people in place now.

[CruzR887]

Thanks, I  couldn't remember going thru immigration at the port but I wanted to make sure. 

Say Hi to Rocky & Bullwinkle for me!

[Jim_Iain]

Really difficult to answer without further information.      If the cruise has already cleared into the EC you will have no customs or immigration formalities at Civitavecchia.   At FCO you will go through normal departure security and Passport Control  (regardless of whether departing after a cruise or just a visitor).

 

[cruiserchuck]

Never seen immigration control at Civi.  Not at start, end, or port stop in middle of cruise.

Edited February 29, 2020 by cruiserchuck

[DrivesLikeMario]

Nope.  Easiest disembarkation ever.  Just walk right off.

[Saab4444]

In Europe they do immigration after a cruise only if the cruise started outside Europe. I believe only the US does it again even if you came from the US. Customs is a different story, there are agents around doing random checks. At the airport the passport control is not for immigration but for all leaving the EU. 

[steamboats]

As you pretty likely arrive from another Schengen port there´s no passport control at Civi port. There´s one at the airport when you are on an international flight leaving the Schengen countries (not to mention the check when boarding which is mandatory in Italy and Spain for all flights).

 

steamboats

[az_tchr]

7 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

In Europe they do immigration after a cruise only if the cruise started outside Europe. I believe only the US does it again even if you came from the US. Customs is a different story, there are agents around doing random checks. At the airport the passport control is not for immigration but for all leaving the EU. 

Not exactly. Italy has a strange situation at Civitivecchia. We cruised to Europe multiple times. Southampton, Barcelona, and others all have immigration control at the ports. NOT there. People with long term visas they needed stamped needed to go to the airport! to get their passport stamped.

This is not a situation with random checks. Immigration is nowhere to be found. I went looking.

[waterbug123]

15 hours ago, CruzR887 said:

If a cruise ends in Civitavecchia do you go thru immigration control at the port as you exit the ship, or at FCO?  

 

It depends on the prior itinerary.  But if the itinerary is such that immigration is required, it would be upon exiting the ship, not arriving at the airport because think about it...  not all the passengers are immediately going to the airport, and to go to the airport means you have already arrived in the country and would need to have already been processed in.  If you do go to the airport immediately after, you likely have passport control again there.

[Silkroad]

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Really difficult to answer without further information.      If the cruise has already cleared into the EC you will have no customs or immigration formalities at Civitavecchia.   At FCO you will go through normal departure security and Passport Control  (regardless of whether departing after a cruise or just a visitor).

 

I agree with Jim, with one caveat. We have once encountered a random immigration check at Civitavecchia. We had walked off just before the officials arrived, but others, including some who were sharing our airport cab, got caught up in the line. 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Silkroad

[LucasLounger1]

Our 2019 Transatlantic went from Miami to Civitavecchia and we walked right off the ship. Nobody at all there to check. And we had no checks at the few stops in Europe on the way. Good thing we weren't onward to Germany,  where I was once questioned upon leaving because the entry stamp in the passport was illegible. 

[az_tchr]

36 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

It depends on the prior itinerary.  But if the itinerary is such that immigration is required, it would be upon exiting the ship, not arriving at the airport because think about it...  not all the passengers are immediately going to the airport, and to go to the airport means you have already arrived in the country and would need to have already been processed in.  If you do go to the airport immediately after, you likely have passport control again there.

Actually it doesn't. We stopped in Morocco and Gibraltar. Neither EC countries. Best friend has long term visitor visa that requires an EC entry stamp because that starts his 6 month stay and without it he cannot obtain utilities etc for his home. Was not able to locate anyone at Civil to stamp passport. Thus went to FCO to get an entry stamp - a week AFTER he entered Italy!

Again it I'd Italy. Things operate strangely there and I once saw an immigration officer there (drinking coffee and chatting with friends).

 

[Roger88]

I wonder why Americans even bother about it. American passport is the key to all countries in the world. You will almost never have problems with visiting any country in the world.  (Aside from those we have problems with or waging a war). We ve been to Uzbekistan not that long ago and. Was offered to go to Iran..this was like the only case when I refused to travel. In all other occasions feel free to go anywhere you want  

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Roger88 said:

I wonder why Americans even bother about it. American passport is the key to all countries in the world. You will almost never have problems with visiting any country in the world. 

That might have been true once upon a time, but there are currently 16 countries whose passports provide better access globally and another 4 that provide the same level of access. A US passport enables visa-free access to 184 destinations, whereas a Japanese passport enables visa-free access to 191 destinations, narrowly nudging out previous leader Singapore (190 destinations). At the current time, 42 destinations require a visa for people travelling on a US passport.

 

The Henley Passport Index is the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information, and enhanced by ongoing research by the Henley & Partners Research Department.

[waterbug123]

On 3/1/2020 at 10:04 AM, az_tchr said:

Actually it doesn't. We stopped in Morocco and Gibraltar. Neither EC countries. Best friend has long term visitor visa that requires an EC entry stamp because that starts his 6 month stay and without it he cannot obtain utilities etc for his home. Was not able to locate anyone at Civil to stamp passport. Thus went to FCO to get an entry stamp - a week AFTER he entered Italy!

Again it I'd Italy. Things operate strangely there and I once saw an immigration officer there (drinking coffee and chatting with friends).

 

 

Apparently the ship was not required to clear immigration, but your friend was in a very unique situation which isn't really applicable to the majority of Americans on cruises arriving at Civi and then going to the airport to fly home.

Curious though- where did your friend board the ship initially and when/how did he arrive in that country?