How to start a life in a different time without attracting unwanted attention?

Question

If Adam (from the current year) goes back in time and brings Eve from the 1920's to the current year, what can Eve do to obtain normal things in life like any other citizen in the community (i.e credit card, driver's license, buy a house/car, insurance, etc.) without attracting a lot of attention to the fact that according to records, Eve has no history? (Adam can help in any way - doesn't have to all of Eve's efforts)

I'm looking for mostly legal ways (if possible - if the best/only way is illegal, so be it)

Adam and Eve don't want to be contacted by the government or any sort of investigation agency/organization and want to keep this a down-low as possible. What sort of options do they realistically have?

(If makes any difference, the location is in the U.S.)

Possible duplicate of: Papers, please: Can characters trapped in our reality acquire enough paperwork to be legal? — Alexander, Apr 13 '20 at 16:16

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 13 '20 at 15:24

12

Step 1: Travel to a third world country and obtain a passport. This can be done in numerous ways, but most of them involve the exchange of money. Don't worry, it's completely legal as long as the government of the third world country is accepting the money.

Step 2: Adam marries Eve. This is the easiest method, and doesn't even have to be a marriage is all aspects of every situation, it just has to be a good enough marriage on paper for Step 3. They can even get divorced with little problem as long as they wait a sufficiently long amount of time.

Step 3: Eve applies for US citizenship and is fairly likely to get it as she is married to a US citizen (Adam), who presumably have a successful job. If Eve is ever asked awkward question like 'What were you doing there when you don't look like you're from X country?' then Eve spins a sob story about her poor missionary parents who tragically died when she was a child and thus she barely knows anything about them.

answered Apr 13 '20 at 15:24

Halfthawed

40,450
5
73
156

2

If Eve can speak the native tongue while telling the sob story, it may be more believable. – Michael Kutz Apr 13 '20 at 15:26
1

Doesn't even have to be a "third world" country. Many countries offer citizenship in exchange for a suitable investment. It's good policy too. – AlexP Apr 13 '20 at 16:48
1

Adam's status only matters for getting a green card. Citizenship comes from sufficient time as a resident, not from Adam. – Loren Pechtel Apr 13 '20 at 23:59
2

Step 1 is going to be a bit of a problem, though--while you can buy citizenship they normally want proof of identity. While it's certainly possible to circumvent that it won't be legal. Also, merely having a foreign passport isn't enough. They wanted my wife's birth certificate and a police check (although the latter will be a non-issue as it simply shows Eve has no criminal record in that country--something which obviously is true.) – Loren Pechtel Apr 14 '20 at 00:00

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 13 '20 at 16:26

Borrowed identity.

Did the earlier incarnation of this idea involve Charles Dexter Ward? That reincarnated sorcerer was crazy cocky! Taking the identity of a living, well known person in plain sight is quite a feat.

But stealing someones identity and masquerading as them is a done thing. And borrowing someones identity with their consent is even easier! For example if I need health care and have no insurance, I can do my hair like my buddy, shave my beard to look like him, and go get health care using his ID. I pay him back with a long bongo drum composition honoring him but you get the idea.

Eve returns and uses the identity of a person known to Adam, and a person whose identity papers he can access and whose story he knows. Maybe his disabled mother who lives in the attic? Maybe his sister, who moved to India a few years back to find herself? Eve bears a reasonable resemblance to the relative and with a little work can pass. For remaining quirks (like the ones that gave the sorcerer away) the story can be a long illness or serious injury after which Eve was not quite back to normal. She can fall back on that if she encounters someone who used to know the real relative.

Stepping into an existing role is much easier than creating a role out of whole cloth. If you want to read a Lovecraft story about a wicked sorcerer who does it right, here you go: The Thing on the Doorstep

How to start a life in a different time without attracting unwanted attention?

2 Answers2