Dover High School junior Christy Naaman is a serious student with a 4.0 average. The 15-year-old looks foward to getting her first job to help her struggling parents and she dreams of going to college to study psychology.

Naaman considers herself Asian-American. But the U.S. government considers her an illegal immigrant and, as such, her dreams were off the table.

Until now.

Like dozens of other youthful immigrants in New Hampshire, Naaman plans to apply to a new federal program that, if approved, would enable her to avoid deportation for up to two years and make her eligible for a work permit and allowed to attend college.

“It would allow me to finish high school here and to start college,” Naaman said.

She was four years old when she arrived in the U.S. with her parents, who came here seeking asylum from their native Indonesia.

“I spent my entire life here and, basically, America is my home. If I suddenly had to leave all of this ... everything would change for me,” she said during a recent telephone interview.

Her parents have an asylum hearing set for May. If they are refused asylum, Naaman and her parents likely would face deportation.

That's why the new consideration for deferred action for childhood arrivals program is so important to Naaman and many like her, according to immigration attorneys and advocates.

To be eligible, immigrants must have come to the U.S. before they turned 16 years old, have been here at least five years, have no criminal record, are currently attending or graduated from a U.S. school or are an honorably discharged veteran.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting applications Aug. 15. Applicants' requests for deferred deportation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If approved, they could be eligible for renewal. It costs $465 to apply.

New Hampshire Catholic Charities has been “swamped with calls” from immigrants who arrived here as children and from their parents, eager to learn more about the program, said Cathy Chesley, the agency's director of immigration and refugee services.

“They are coming out of the shadows,” Chesley said.

Many young people have lived here so long they never knew they are not legal residents, since they have yet to apply for the Social Security number they would need to work or go to college.

While this program is “not a direct ticket to citizenship,” it will open doors to a certain group of immigrants who came here as children and want to lead productive lives, Chesley explained.

“It's certainly not what we hoped would come out of a comprehensive immigration reform. But, for a subset of young people who are talented and hard working and want to contribute and give back, it's a great opportunity,” she said.

New Hampshire Catholic Charities, which is the largest private social services agency in the state and the only provider of low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees, will hold information and screening sessions across the state. Its staff of attorneys, legal advocates and law school interns are prepared to assist immigrants through the detailed application process, Chesley said.

Chesley and USCIS officials warn immigrants to beware of scams in which unauthorized immigration lawyers may offer to assist them filling out the forms, often charging large fees.

For information or assistance, contact New Hampshire Catholic Charities' legal intake line at 889-9431 or email kgeorge@nh-cc.org.

USCIS officials said it is too early in the process to estimate the response the program has received in New Hampshire.

Chesley said estimates of undocumented immigrants in New Hampshire range from 8,000 to 15,000. She said she expected mostly Hispanic immigrants would apply.

The program also will benefit children of the estimated 800 Indonesians who fled religious extremism in their homelands and have been living in the Seacoast area since the 1980s, according to the Rev. Sandra Pontoh, pastor of Maranatha Indonesian United Church of Christ in Madbury.

“They are more American than Indonesian. Some of them don't even speak Indonesian,” Pontoh said.

“This program will give them the opportunity to have a work permit and a work permit means they can apply to school ... and they can work,” she added.

Pontoh estimated 50 Indonesians in the Seacoast area may be eligible to apply — including some whose parents already have deportation orders against them. Removal orders against parents also apply to their children, she said.

Immigrants who already have removal orders against them, are in removal or asylum proceedings may apply, as well as those who have never had contact with the immigration system.

kmarchocki@unionleader.com