3 ms·

What makes you (or those in the article) an expatriate rather than an immigrant?

loktarogar 6y ago
two sides of the same coin - they're a expat to Britain (the perspective of this British article), and they're an immigrant to Spain.
- overscore 6y ago
  Is emigrant not the other side of that coin?
  - loktarogar 6y ago
    expat takes the role of emigrant
HappyDreamer 6y ago
The dictionary: "immigrant: a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country". Note: permanently. But expat can be temporary. So, if you haven't decided that you'll stay permanently in the new country, but maybe instead you'll move to a 2nd new country, a 3rd and so on, then you might consider yourself an expat, but not an immigrant. At least that's how foreign students here, seem to refer to themselves: They're here for a few years, and then will probably leave, and they call themselves "expats". And also, what about this: If you still have your identity in your home country (e.g. the culture there?), you'd think of yourself as someone from that country: "I expatriated from Home-Country". But if your identity is in the new country, then you'd think of yourself primarily as an immigrant to country New-Country?
- overscore 6y ago
  Historically, it was the other way round. An immigrant only became an expatriate if they took on the citizenship of their host county. I know that expatriate can colloquially mean a person temporarily abroad, but in this context, it refers to immigrants to Spain who generally intended to stay permanently.
toyg 6y ago
In practice, nothing; but if brits can call themselves expats abroad (which they do even when they’ve no intention to ever go back, the attempts at language sophistry are a laughable attempt at justifying exceptionalism and casual racism), then I can call myself expat here.
- overscore 6y ago
  Yes, that's certainly fair. Hopefully I didn't offend. I'm Irish, but once was an immigrant/expat in the US (in that I intended to stay permanently and to become a citizen, but things ended up not working out that way). I always thought of myself as an immigrant, but there were a lot of people I met who called themselves expats and never immigrants. Some almost seemed offended by the word. I think your comment about exceptionalism probably captured the reason why.

two sides of the same coin - they're a expat to Britain (the perspective of this British article), and they're an immigrant to Spain.

overscore 6y ago
Is emigrant not the other side of that coin?
- loktarogar 6y ago
  expat takes the role of emigrant

HappyDreamer 6y ago

The dictionary: "immigrant: a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country". Note: permanently. But expat can be temporary. So, if you haven't decided that you'll stay permanently in the new country, but maybe instead you'll move to a 2nd new country, a 3rd and so on, then you might consider yourself an expat, but not an immigrant. At least that's how foreign students here, seem to refer to themselves: They're here for a few years, and then will probably leave, and they call themselves "expats". And also, what about this: If you still have your identity in your home country (e.g. the culture there?), you'd think of yourself as someone from that country: "I expatriated from Home-Country". But if your identity is in the new country, then you'd think of yourself primarily as an immigrant to country New-Country?

overscore 6y ago
Historically, it was the other way round. An immigrant only became an expatriate if they took on the citizenship of their host county. I know that expatriate can colloquially mean a person temporarily abroad, but in this context, it refers to immigrants to Spain who generally intended to stay permanently.

toyg 6y ago

In practice, nothing; but if brits can call themselves expats abroad (which they do even when they’ve no intention to ever go back, the attempts at language sophistry are a laughable attempt at justifying exceptionalism and casual racism), then I can call myself expat here.

overscore 6y ago
Yes, that's certainly fair. Hopefully I didn't offend. I'm Irish, but once was an immigrant/expat in the US (in that I intended to stay permanently and to become a citizen, but things ended up not working out that way). I always thought of myself as an immigrant, but there were a lot of people I met who called themselves expats and never immigrants. Some almost seemed offended by the word. I think your comment about exceptionalism probably captured the reason why.