Originally Posted by
ljwobker
Does "walking out with the sticker" equate to "being able to use the machine"? Seems like walking up to a machine that doesn't know who I am won't help me. ;-) Or is the sticker enough to at the very least get me to the front of the line even if the machine doesn't know who I am?
They put in the sticker after they've scanned your passport into the system. Now, it's possible there's some delay on the uploading/propagation of your passport info systemwide, but everything happens at the interview that's necessary to get you going. If for some reason the machine doesn't recognize you then you get to talk to a CBP agent, and all should be fine.