I must ask two silly questions: (1) Why would CBP at ORD be processing passengers from lots of flights from Canada when all major airports in Canada have CBP preclearance? (2) Why would Canadian LPRs be a problem (over any other country's LPRs)?

First Global Entry use...WOW
 

I flew in from Europe to JFK yesterday afternoon.

The lines for both USA and NON were HUGE, all the way back to the hallway.

In the middle stands one little Global Entry sign.

Nobody at the machines!

Stick your passport in, lay your fingers on the pad, answer the questions, confirm your answers, and 60 seconds you're done.

Off to bag claim, as I was in business my bags came out very promptly.

I timed it, from the time I stepped off the plane to the time I stepped into the car, it was 16 minutes. Could have saved almost 10 if I'd carried on.

Spectacular!

Does anyone have experience with GE in FLL? Was thinking of applying, but last time I arrived internationally, I noticed the machine was down.

No problem. I flew yesterday, carrying both passports just in case, and had no issue with NEXUS flagging me or anything of the sort. The only thing that sucks is that I have my old passport number memorized for the Blue Form (when will they get rid of that for NEXUS now that all NEXUS holders have GE?) and have to memorize this one now.

Well, ORD is an airport that gets a lot of non-preclearance flights from places like Regina, Saskatoon, London, Quebec City, etc. That adds up.

As for the "Canadian LPR (shudder, I hate that acronym)" thing, a lot of Canadians have Green Cards.

Haven't used FLL, but even with a machine down, GE is much faster. You get front of the line access and are processed much more quickly and generally don't have to fill out the blue form.

Yeah, I was just concerned that I might not fit Nexus profile since I usually visit Canada once a year or so, compared to multiple arrivals from overseas.

Good observation though!

I have not visited Canada since 2008. Had my NEXUS interview on Tuesday, and was approved.. Just because you are not a frequent visitor, that will not disqualify. When I signed up for GE, I had the intention of going abroad only once last year.. I used it four times :D

I flew in to ORD the other day - and chatting with others in the UA Business 747 upper deck learned that at least four others had GE! Two of them from my flight made it to the two machines before I did - and both got timed out, then the dreaded X. I figured the machines were not working properly, but tried anyway. 30 seconds later I was out the door, while the two in front of me were talking to the CPB officer at the Crew Line. I wonder if they were both randomly chosen for further questioning, or if there was a momentary system glitch that caught them both?

There is no "profile." Its not like the UK's IRIS system, where you have to prove 2 entries per year to get it. The only reason you would have to worry is if you had some disqualifying factor you thought the Canadians might catch, but even that doesn't matter, because you would be rejected from GE anyway. The reason they allow cross-enrollment is because its the exact same background check.

Even if you are only in Canada once a year, think of it as less than $10 per year (expires on your birthday after the 5th year. You could theoretically have it one day less than 6 years) to seriously expedite your travels, not to mention getting GE free.

At the time of the interview, the woman told me 2-5 business days, but she was having computer issues so I was doubtful. I interviewed on December 20th but didn't get my approval until January 20th, only after I called to ask what the problem was. Thankfully, the agent put the sticker in my passport the day of the interview so I can use GE on my back into LAX next week.

GE is instant because it uses your existing passport. Just scan and go. NEXUS requires you to wait a few days for the card to get mailed from the facility in Vermont where they make them (for both Canadians and Americans). That said, I would guess that if you have had your eyes scanned, you can use NEXUS Air right away.

Data point
 

Conditional approval Dec 16 6 hours after paying $200 for two. Dfw had no appointments, but Mia had late week night appointments, so we took those. GE office at the end of the world on J conc. Easy in and out. Approval email in 12 hours but Our officer said we were instantly good to go

My US passport expires 1/1/2012. My basic question is this: should I renew my passport before going through the GE application process?

Irrelevant - you can get a new sticker when you get a new sticker, if you're already in the program. It's not a big deal and if you can make use of it sooner, I'd just go with the current passport and get the update made when you get a new one.

When you get your new passport, you would log-on to GE web site and update your new pp number. You can then show up (without an appointment) at a GE location, they will verify that your new pp # matches what you entered into the system and paste a new CBP sticker on it.

Just had my first chance to use GE in DFW. Everything worked great, skipping the lines is definitely worth the $20/year. Only issue was actually getting the interview appointment at DFW. Looks like they had a ~2 month backlog.