Starting on Monday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USICS) began accepting parole applications for an estimated 550,000 noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens as part of the Biden administration’s implementation of their “Keeping Families Together” program.

The application for the so-called “parole in place” program was unveiled by the Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice published on Monday.

Under the program, noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens who are currently living in the country without admission or parole, and who have been continuously present in the country since at least June 17, 2014, will be eligible to apply for parole.

If granted parole, an estimated 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens could apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.

“Too often, noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens – many of them mothers and fathers – live with uncertainty due to undue barriers in our immigration system.” said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou in a Monday press release.

“This process to keep U.S. families together will remove these undue barriers for those who would otherwise qualify to live and work lawfully in the U.S., while also creating greater efficiencies in the immigration system, conducting effective screening and vetting, and focusing on noncitizens who contribute to and have longstanding connections within American communities across the country,” Jaddou said.

According to USCIS, noncitizens with a felony-level criminal conviction or are otherwise deemed a threat to public safety, national security, or border security, will not be eligible to apply for parole under the “Keeping Families Together” program.

Certain misdemeanor offenses, however, including traffic infractions such as driving without a license or with an expired license, will not make noncitizens ineligible to apply.

Additionally, the noncitizen applicants must submit to biometric and biographic background checks and national security and public safety vetting in order to be eligible to apply for “parole in place.”