I just applied to it for one of my side projects, I’ll let you know how I got on. I will post the feedback about it. So far I just have received an automated response that said something along the lines of
“We’ll get back to you if your site was not suitable for Google News and to check the listings for your entries”
Which I am basically making the assumption that they mean “don’t call us, we’ll call you” that’s the idea I got.