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I mean if this definition was applied consistently, I would be happy to use it. But when speaking about e.g H-1B visa holders working in the US and taking jobs

I mean if this definition was applied consistently, I would be happy to use it. But when speaking about e.g H-1B visa holders working in the US and taking jobs or raising house prices, they are called immigrants not expats. In fact I have never heard the term expat being applied to any immigrant to the West, even though many do return home eventually. More fundamentally, it seems a bit silly to define different words to describe essentially the same people with the exception of their long term plans years into the future. Those plans can change for many reasons. In your example of someone who stays for 10 years and then moves home, do you think they planned to move home all along? Did they even know what they would do 10 years later as a 18-22yo coming to college? Most of us don't. They were seemingly immigrants for 10 years right up until the point they decided to move home..

jmillikin 4y ago
It's worth distinguishing because the needs/desires of expats and immigrants are different. I'm an American living in Tokyo. There's a fair number of American expats in Tokyo, usually high-level managers of international corporations. They socialize mainly with other expats at places like Tokyo American Club[0], don't learn Japanese beyond the basics, and send their kids to "international schools" where the curriculum is in English. However, as an American immigrant in Tokyo, my social group and goals and so on are different. Immigrants learn Japanese, socialize largely either with locals or other immigrants, and their families may speak little (or no) English. Our needs involving banking, legal services, licensing (e.g. driver's license), and housing are different from expats -- they care about rent at high-end furnished apartments, I care about rent of normal apartments (short-term) and mortgage availability (long-term). > I mean if this definition was applied consistently, I > would be happy to use it. But when speaking about e.g > H-1B visa holders working in the US and taking jobs or > raising house prices, they are called immigrants > not expats. It's easy to twist yourself into knots trying to understand thought processes of people who don't think. Someone who calls H-1B holders "immigrants" and blames them for housing prices hasn't put any thought into their position, so you'll only do yourself a disservice by trying to meet them on their level. [0] https://www.tokyoamericanclub.org/index.php/en/ https://www.tokyoamericanclub.org/index.php/en/

jmillikin 4y ago

It's worth distinguishing because the needs/desires of expats and immigrants are different. I'm an American living in Tokyo. There's a fair number of American expats in Tokyo, usually high-level managers of international corporations. They socialize mainly with other expats at places like Tokyo American Club[0], don't learn Japanese beyond the basics, and send their kids to "international schools" where the curriculum is in English. However, as an American immigrant in Tokyo, my social group and goals and so on are different. Immigrants learn Japanese, socialize largely either with locals or other immigrants, and their families may speak little (or no) English. Our needs involving banking, legal services, licensing (e.g. driver's license), and housing are different from expats -- they care about rent at high-end furnished apartments, I care about rent of normal apartments (short-term) and mortgage availability (long-term). > I mean if this definition was applied consistently, I > would be happy to use it. But when speaking about e.g > H-1B visa holders working in the US and taking jobs or > raising house prices, they are called immigrants > not expats. It's easy to twist yourself into knots trying to understand thought processes of people who don't think. Someone who calls H-1B holders "immigrants" and blames them for housing prices hasn't put any thought into their position, so you'll only do yourself a disservice by trying to meet them on their level. [0] https://www.tokyoamericanclub.org/index.php/en/ https://www.tokyoamericanclub.org/index.php/en/