https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/nationa...e-saving-tools

It seems this is active in the above airports where USC are recoginized automatically similar to the SBE kiosks implemented recently for GE/TT? So a USC just walks up/by the kiosk, gets a green (all good) or blue (see officer) screen?

Yes, been operational since late May at ORD. Referral rates have low overall.

I used this in Toronto. Basicallly an iPad kiosk that gives you a green light as you walk up to it. It just says 'Look here' as you approach it. This was in the NEXUS/GE lane. I do wish that if it's required like for the original GE kiosks that they mention or have an indication that glasses/hats should be removed. I'm not sure if it worked properly as while it didn't give a warning light, the agent at the desk (all NEXUS/GE members in Toronto still go to a desk after the kiosk/iPad) still asked for my passport, scanned everything quietly for a few minutes then sent me through.

One thing I am confused of is to whether or not this is part of the Seamless Border Entry initiative or separate from it. The press release mentions both, but I'm not sure what the difference is. The one in Toronto is mentioned as SBE but seemed to be EPP with the iPad.

Must one have Global Entry (GE), or is this like the more widely available U.S. Customs & Border Protection (US CBP) Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app?

Only US citizens. MPC app also covers VWP visitors.

Enhanced Passenger Processing is available for all US citizens regardless of whether they are enrolled in NEXUS or Global Entry.

There is also the Seamless Border Entry program, that is available only to members of the Trusted Traveler Programs; that one includes “On the Move” technology, which screens passengers as they move through the Federal Inspection Service facility without requiring them to stop at kiosk or pause to have a CBP officer take their photo. Please discuss SBE in the Trusted Travelers forum.

Saw this in action at YUL. Weren't able to use it as we had two small children with us.

I haven't encountered "EPP" yet (as I almost always land in the US at PHL which doesn't seem to yet have it) but on my second most recent entry at PHL as Global Entry, I was surprised that the kiosk photographed me so quickly after I entered its field of view that "I" "wasn't" looking in the right direction, so the kiosk failed me (and then the CBP agent made me wait while he passed several other passengers through before deigning to check me and pass me through). It only delayed me a couple of minutes, but as a life-long security person myself, I know that good process - which very much includes having technology work with the user instead of against the user - is a key part of security success. The kiosk should have said "gee, that looks like the top of your head, please look here and tap the screen to try again" instead of "#FAIL!". *pfft*

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While waiting for my son's GE interview I got to witness the software behind SBE/EPP in action on the officers screens. The flimsy webcams installed at the desks provide enough information for officers to pull up the info of 4-5 persons standing in front of them. Within seconds they get a list shown to them with full details and the captured picture as well as the passport/visa photo on file. The tech is most certainly there and it is fast.

My recent experience re-entering the USA at PHL was definitely something new. A camera snapped my photo the second I reached the desk, the CBP agent put out his hand for my passport, but I don't think he actually looked at it, he was comparing the photo just taken to something on a monitor I couldn't see (maybe the MPC form I had submitted, or the photo snapped of me 3 weeks earlier, in the security line at PHL on my way out of the country?). He asked if I had any meat or fresh produce with me, I said no, he stamped my passport and sent me on my way. Took maybe 15 seconds total.