What is an expat?

[Samuel]

I’ve been hearing the term expat a lot and am curious—What is an expat? Is it just living abroad for work or is there more to it? Also, how is an expat different from an immigrant?

 

[Gsusangrey]

An expat (expatriate) is someone who resides and even works in a country other than his/her home country, usually retaining connections to his home country and occasionally intending to come back.

 

[BlissCore]

An expatriate (also known as expat or shortened expatriate) is a person who resides in a foreign country that is not their home typically either to work, study or personal reasons, but usually on a temporary basis. The main distinction between an immigrant and an expat is that an immigrant tends to be a permanent migration with intentions to settle down whereas the expat has that of returning back home at some point in time. It largely concerns lifestyle and will instead of merely living in a foreign country.

 

[brook]

An expat is a short name used to refer to a person who is not in his or her home country, usually because of work, study, or vacation. Expats find ways of living with a new culture, being connected with their own state, somewhere between experiences of locality and the opportunities of the global world.

 

[deepak]

An expat or expatriate refers to an individual who resides and works beyond his or her country of origin either temporarily or permanently. Expats usually emigrate to work, to study or to live. They do not have to give up the citizenship of their native country but fit in a new culture and a new setting.

 

[niyati]

An expatriate or expat is an individual who has left his or her home country to work, study or live. Expats tend to relocate to other countries either on a temporary or a permanent basis to experience new cultures, to seek employment or to simply lead a different lifestyle though still remain connected with their motherland.