The New York City Housing Authority has started notifying hundreds of thousands of individuals who have secured a spot on its Section 8 waitlist which opened earlier this summer.

Applications for the waitlist reopened in June for the first time since 2009.

According to NYCHA, the agency received more than 638,000 applications but only 200,000 were selected.

NYCHA says applicants are being notified in batches via email, with hard copies of the notifications to follow by mail.

Households will subsequently be contacted again with instructions on the next steps in the application process.

Being on the waitlist does not guarantee immediate receipt of a housing voucher. NYCHA will need to confirm each applicant’s eligibility, and receiving a voucher can take several years.

The city plans to use the waitlist for years to come, with a goal of issuing 1,000 housing vouchers per month.