Mailchimp Integration: what 'Status' are clients allocated in Mailchimp when you do the integration?

We want to set up the Mailchimp integration Add On but are in the tricky position of not technically having permission (yet) to send our clients marketing emails (their data was gathered either pre GDPR, or marketing permission was not expressly collected at the time of gathering the data.

If I set up the integration, are all clients allocated 'Subscriber' status? [does Mailchimp assume you already have marketing permission. [I've asked Mailchimp already & they say "For more information on how a specific integration is intended to work, I would recommend reaching out to the developers of the integration itself." So here I am..... Grateful for any help please.