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As a former expat, my understanding of the distinction is that expats realize they're temporarily in the foreign country, and are not consciously working to "go
by tsm 10y ago
As a former expat, my understanding of the distinction is that expats realize they're temporarily in the foreign country, and are not consciously working to "go native". Immigrants believe that they've moved for good, and are more likely than not to, for example, hope that their children are a better cultural fit with the host country than the parents were.
- dalke 10y agoDo you consider temporary agricultural workers from Mexico to be expats?
- bjourne 10y agoThere are many Americans and British in Sweden who have settled and married Swedish people and call themselves expats. Really seems like keerthiko has a good point about the word expat just being a fancier word for immigrant.
- dalke 10y agoI am US citizen living permanently in Sweden who calls myself an immigrant. I did so because I agree with keerthiko. I think "expat" is mostly a code phrase for "I come from a rich country" or "I come from the professional or upper class". It isn't simply a fancier word but I think also a snobbier word. Some expats will 'react violently' if you call them an immigrant, quoting madaxe_again at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12332279 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12332279 .