How This Works

Our Approach

Before You Go uses a risk scoring system that combines multiple signals to provide probabilistic guidance:

  • Office schedules and operating hours
  • Public holidays and declared closures
  • Day-of-week patterns (e.g., Fridays and Mondays tend to be busier)
  • Time-of-month effects (end of month is often more congested)
  • Historical visit outcomes (aggregated anonymous feedback)

What You'll See

Availability Status

Likely OpenUncertainLikely Closed

Based on schedule, holidays, and recent patterns

Risk Level

LowMediumHigh

Indicates the likelihood of issues (long queues, system downtime, etc.)

Recommended Time Window

Best time to visit based on historical patterns

Contextual Warnings

Alerts about upcoming holidays, closures, or high-risk periods

How Scores Are Calculated

Our risk scoring engine uses versioned rules that are:

  • Transparent: Full breakdown of factors is available
  • Versioned: Rules evolve over time, history is preserved
  • Country-agnostic: Works for any country with proper configuration
  • Data-driven: Improves as more feedback is collected

Your Contributions

You can help improve the system by submitting anonymous feedback after your visit:

  • Outcome: Success, Partial, or Failed
  • Issue tags: Long queue, system down, staff shortage, etc.
  • Optional short note (200 characters max)

All feedback is anonymous and aggregated. Individual submissions are never visible.

Important Notes

This is not a guarantee. The platform provides probabilistic guidance based on available data. Always verify with official sources when possible.

Data freshness matters. Scores are calculated daily, but real-time conditions may vary. Use this as one input to your decision, not the only one.

We're not official. This is a community-driven tool, not an official government system. We make no claims to official status.