@surpassinggoogle i want to thank you very much for this information. I have a group of prospective steemians awaiting sign up for over 2 weeks now 
I now have goodnews for them. I only hope they will be able to understand this and not think i want to scam them.
Recruitment of newbies into the program is a lovely thing to do. It gives me a sense of joy when their accounts get approved.
Thanks for this lovely solution
@antigenx