Going thru customs & passport at JFK after returning to US from Europe

1. Make sure you have your boarding pass for the next flight in print or electronic format.
2. Walk fast to Passport control and then through customs to landside
3. Read the departures board and note the gate# for your connecting flight
4. Go through security

Look up the current status of CPB’s Mobile Passport program/app. It was down for upgrades, but if active when you travel it can be as fast as Global Entry. Or even faster.

Don’t assume that your flight out of JFK will be in Terminal 4. Delta also uses Terminal 2 for some domestic flights. You will not know which terminal until the day of the flight since this can change from day to day. Be sure to check the monitors that show gate assignments.

If you need to go to Terminal 2, Delta provides a bus that connects the two terminals without going outside security at Terminal 4 and having to go through security again at Terminal 2. However, if you find yourself outside security after finishing with passport control, you can take the airTrain to Terminal 2 and then go through security.

You said you have a short layover? How short?

JFKs terminal 2 is closing next week, mid-January, in preparation for demolition.

Well unless your flight is before January 15th you will be in Terminal 4 at JFK as Terminal 2 is being torn down. I actually think Delta may have staged their last flights out if Terminal 2 yesterday but that may not be correct

https://ils.development.thepointsguy.com/news/jfk-terminal-2-closed/

I was quite surprised when we returned from Italy to Dulles. We went thru customs, which took about 2 min. No inspection. We simply stated that we had 3 bottles of liquor, and the agent just wrote it down. My wife wanted to be more accurate, but I did not.

I think customs decides based on what you look like how strict to be. We are 70 YO US citizens.

How brief is your layover? I have found that going through Immigration isn't the major problem at JFK, it's the having to go back through security to get to your gate. We have gone through JFK with a 2 hour window and barely made the next flight, hopefully it is better now, but if your traveling during the high season (summer, Spring Break or Holidays) I would want at least 2.5 hours to get to my next gate, and this is assuming that your incoming flight is on time.

What is your actual connection time between your arrival at JFK and your departure on the domestic flight? If you are on one ticket, if you do, miss it, hopefully you can be seated on the next flight assuming there is another flight to your final destination, the same day.

If you have Global Entry, immigration could take under a minute at the kiosk and customs is a walk-through unless you are actually declaring something. You will have to go through security again, so I don’t know how long that line will be. If you don’t have GE, your wait at immigration could be 20 minutes; it could be over 2 hours. Customs is still a walk-through if you aren’t clearing anything.

Terminal 4 is a long walk even if you aren’t going to the opposite end in which, if that’s where your gate is, you could take the jitney. There is also a jitney to terminal 2 where your domestic flight could be if you are departing before Jan 15 when the terminal is to be demolished.

Glad to hear that Terminal 2 will be closed. I fly often to NYC to see my son’s family and I have always disliked that terminal!

Just as an aside, coming back from Paris and then from London fairly recently and using Global Entry, here's how much interaction I had with US immigration/customs:

Zero. Zilch. Nada. Never asked if I had anything to declare, didn't even see them around.

Which as I've noted is convenient, but also a bit troubling.