When I registered, I was told it would be active immediately, and it worked that day (or the next). I had a couple of trips were it didn't work, so next chance I had to go by the office, they verified I was in the system. They said U.S. passports must be placed on the reader in a very specific way to read the info as it is in a slightly different location on the European passports. I have used it successfully (most recently at MUC). You just have to get the page properly aligned and be patient for it to be read. I hope this helps.