United States President, JOE BIDEN is set to announce a new policy that would protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented spouses of US citizens from deportation.

The action will apply to those who have been in the country for at least 10 years and will allow them to work in the US legally.

The White House believes more than 500,000 spouses of US citizens will benefit, in addition to 50,000 young people under 21 whose parent is married to an American citizen.

On average, the White House believes that those eligible for the process have been in the US for 23 years.