Short answer: yes. The customs guidance for arriving passengers describes the order as immigration first, then taking delivery of your baggage from the conveyor belts, then customs clearance. So you collect your checked bags before you reach the customs channels.
What the official pages say. The Mumbai Customs Zone III arrival guidance says every passenger entering India has to pass a customs check after being cleared by an immigration officer and taking delivery of baggage, if any, from the conveyor belts. The Gujarat Customs guide to travellers repeats the same order. The Chennai Customs page says that after immigration the passenger enters the arrival hall, passes a hand baggage and doorframe check, and collects the checked-in baggage. Then comes the choice of channel.
The two channels. These pages describe the green channel for passengers with no dutiable or prohibited goods, and the red channel for passengers with dutiable or restricted goods, where duty is paid. If you are unsure whether something you carry is dutiable, read the customs page for your airport before you choose.
A simple order for the day.
- Immigration: have the passport and boarding pass ready. Delhi Airport's page names the counter for Indian passport holders.
- Baggage hall: find your flight on the screen and take your bags from the belt.
- Customs: choose the channel with the right declaration. Keep any receipts for goods you bought abroad.
- Exit: only then move on to the arrivals hall or the next step of your trip.
If you are connecting on to another flight. Whether your bags are tagged to your final city or only to the first airport decides if you collect them at the first airport, so check your boarding passes and bag tags and ask the airline. Our post about the domestic transfer counter after an international arrival covers the next step.
If a bag does not arrive. Report it to the airline's baggage desk in the hall before you leave, and keep the claim reference.
For your own trips. If you want the arrival day laid out for a family, send us a trip-planning inquiry.
A Miranda House graduate and lawyer who traded courtrooms for slow travel. Cheshta travels with the batches we host ourselves, with a soft spot for travelling alongside elders.
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