FLIGHTS & ARRIVAL

For All Students, Regardless Of Where You Are Traveling From/Transiting Through, we recommend that you:

• bring all documentation regarding enrollment in the study abroad program (including your international insurance letter)

• bring a copy of documents presented with your visa application (if applicable) and keep these documents with your passport.

• have your CDC card as a photo on your phone as backup.

It is important that you keep and bring with you all documentation regarding your enrollment in the program and a copy of the other documents that you may have presented with your visa application (if applicable).  Please be sure to keep these documents with your passport. Also have your CDC COVID-19 vaccination card with you.  You might need to show it when clearing immigration in Italy. 

Effective June 1, 2022, there will be no more Covid-19 requirements for any travelers arriving from a foreign country. They will not be asked to show any documentation on Covid-19 vaccination, recovery, or negative testing.

Further restrictions to movements may be adopted at national and/or regional level depending on the risk assessment carried out on a regular basis by the Ministry of Health. You can find useful information on local restrictions on the website of the Ministry of Health, by clicking: Containment Measures in Italy.

Please note that we usually ask students to arrive at Milano Malpensa airport (MPX). For information about the airport procedures, please visit the airport website at https://www.milanomalpensa-airport.com/en/covid-faq/swab-medmxp.

Before traveling, always check the requirements for travel at 

• https://it.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

• https://infocovid.viaggiaresicuri.it/index_en.html

Plan to arrive at the airport 3 hours early, check-in independently, and then look for other students at the gate in case you are planning on flying with other students, where it will be far easier to find each other.   You might want to wear or bring some sort of UIUC paraphernalia to make it easy to find one another.  If you will miss the flight due to an accident on the day of travel or a problem with a connection, you are required to inform the Pavia staff about revised flight details.  Once you land in Italy, first you will go through the line for passengers arriving from “Non-EU” countries and you will meet with an immigration officer who will ask about the purpose of your visit. Show documentation (including enrollment letter, and visa, if applicable).

Very important: You must ensure that at the EU border, an immigration officer puts a clear and legible stamp on your passport.  This stamp will be your 'declaration of presence' on Italian soil.  

Once you have the stamp, proceed to baggage claim, grab your luggage and exit through the gates “nothing to declare”.  If one of your bags is missing, submit a lost baggage claim before exiting the baggage claim area and also let a fellow student know what has happened to help inform other students or staff waiting outside the baggage claim area.