Expat = immigrant.

[diatessaron]

Hi there,

My brain says the term "expat" was made up by people from the West so they feel better about themselves when moving to another country, and that expats are one and the same as immigrants but you can't label yourself as something you've made fun of for a very long time.

> be in Dubai
> casually get involved in a conversation with a random
> random calls himself an expat
> random refuses to be called in immigrant
> random leaves angry

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Hi there,

My brain says the term "expat" was made up by people from the West so they feel better about themselves when moving to another country, and that expats are one and the same as immigrants but you can't label yourself as something you've made fun of for a very long time.

> be in Dubai
> casually get involved in a conversation with a random
> random calls himself an expat
> random refuses to be called in immigrant
> random leaves angry

Immigrants in Dubai should better be called settlers. Or slaves, depending on their social function.

 

[diatessaron]

Immigrants in Dubai should better be called settlers. Or slaves, depending on their social function.

Noooooooo! Don't call me that, I'm an expat!!!! - said the 50 year old man.

 

[Martin Everson]

Lol...I go with the term immigrant. Dubai has quite a few western immigrants .

 

[NicolasMaduro]

Yes always people claiming western people are racist cause they call themselves expats,
however most people are not retarded and understand the difference

Immigrants = permanently
Expats = temporarily

 

[marioIT]

it's not a race thing, it's a class "I'm better than them" thing.

I know a few guys like this and they usually say:
"I'm expat cause i'm highly skilled, not like those cheap immigrants that come here for the money, those are economic migrants"...

Then you start talking a little and getting acquainted, and they'll explain they came here for the much higher salary, that's all.
Its pretty much what an economic migrant is, just they say it in politically correct words.
I usually try to keep a straight face, but sometime it's hard to!

And some of these people get the citizenship, show up with the passport at the local town parties thinking that having the passport automatically grants you eternal friendship with guys that lives there since like generations.
Then they find out it doesn't work like that in many old countries, and will scream in EVERY online forum about feeling like a foreigner, nobody wants me etc

 

[diatessaron]

Yes always people claiming western people are racist cause they call themselves expats,
however most people are not retarded and understand the difference

Immigrants = permanently
Expats = temporarily

This reply is so unbelievable I can't believe I'm replying.

First of all, I didn't call anyone a racist, the West can't be racist as they've been importing all sorts of races for decades, so much so that they've ruined their own economies and their own people end up on the street or on government support. I'm angry at tax authorities, not "expats", the more miserable the quality of life the lower the tax income for governments.

Second of all, define temporary. That Dubai "expat" had been living there for almost 5 years, and most "expats" spend years in other countries. Meanwhile, Eastern Europeans (in this case a Belarussian individual) can only visit a Western European country for up to 3 months without a visa and up to 6 months with a visa but the immigrant label is stamped on the poor guy like he didn't stop the Mongolian horde at the gates and saved the West from getting absolutely annihilated.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

I consider myself a colonialist and I’m fine with that.

 

[NicolasMaduro]

Second of all, define temporary. That Dubai "expat" had been living there for almost 5 years, and most "expats" spend years in other countries. Meanwhile, Eastern Europeans (in this case a Belarussian individual) can only visit a Western European country for up to 3 months without a visa and up to 6 months with a visa but the immigrant label is stamped on the poor guy like he didn't stop the Mongolian horde at the gates and saved the West from getting absolutely annihilated.

The Belarussian moving to a EU-country to give a better future for his family, and his children, is an immigrant because he have intentions of staying in the EU-country.(If he only wants to live there for 5 years, then he is an expat).

The EU-citizen who gets a 1-3 year contract in UAE is an expat cause he is never going to move there permanently.

immigrant:
a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

Since most people can agree to the meaning of this term, then it doesnt really matter that you believe that expats working 1-3 years overseas is immigrants as well.

 

[Sols]

Immigrants = permanently
Expats = temporarily

it's not a race thing, it's a class "I'm better than them" thing.

I think it's these two together. People who call themselves expats usually have higher salaries/are wealthier than locals. This can drive them to think of themselves as better than the locals or as coming from better countries than the locals. They also tend to consider their stay in a country temporary, sometimes because the idea of staying forever in their new country would simply be beneath them.

But the vast majority are perfectly decent people who just use the term due to the temporary of their stay. It's a not so subtle hint that they won't bother to fully assimilate in society (learn the language, adopt local culture, make friends with localss).

 

[daxbr]

Lol...I go with the term immigrant. Dubai has quite a few western immigrants .

Does that also apply to someone who changes his airbnb weekly, has a backpack with a laptop and permanent residency in a foreign country?

 

[khinkali]

Immigrants are expats but not all expats are immigrants.

My passport had "Non Immigrant" Visa stamps for Thailand for some years. This made sense. I was an expat (living away from my home country), but I had not migrated there (by making it my home country).

I also knew people who had immigrated. They were not going to return to their previous home country. Their children's first language is Thai (British expat kids for example tend to speak English at school and at home).

Becoming an expat is getting a new residence and becoming an immigrant is more like getting a new domicile.

 

[SoNewToAllShit]

Immigrants are expats but not all expats are immigrants.

I agree to this. There is always such an attitude here of negativity when it comes to "western countries" and their actions!

 

[Golden Fleece]

Yes always people claiming western people are racist cause they call themselves expats,
however most people are not retarded and understand the difference

Immigrants = permanently
Expats = temporarily

Yes, why bother to crack open a dictionary when you can instead start a nonsensical thread to denigrate the West because people in the West are capable of using a dictionary and making rational distinctions.

Definition of immigrant​

: one that immigrates: such as
a: a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence

 

[diatessaron]

Yes, why bother to crack open a dictionary when you can instead start a nonsensical thread to denigrate the West because people in the West are capable of using a dictionary and making rational distinctions.

Do you really want me to reply to this?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Most of people who move to another country are failed colonialists, in the sense that they would like to bring their way of living in the host country but fail miserably and get frustrated with that.
Different story for Muslims moving to Europe: they are succeeding in their colonial plans. Given the numbers involved and the consequences caused, we could better call them invaders. The wheel of history keeps turning…

 

[troubled soul]

Most of people who move to another country are failed colonialists, in the sense that they would like to bring their way of living in the host country but fail miserably and get frustrated with that.
Different story for Muslims moving to Europe: they are succeeding in their colonial plans. Given the numbers involved and the consequences caused, we could better call them invaders. The wheel of history keeps turning…

“I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came. And if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration — friends, inter-marriages and so on — than Muslims ... I would say, today, we can integrate all religions and races except Islam.”

 

[Martin Everson]

Does that also apply to someone who changes his airbnb weekly, has a backpack with a laptop and permanent residency in a foreign country?

Does he change his airbnb weekly within the same country? If so what difference does that make?

 

[elcontestador]

Hi there,

My brain says the term "expat" was made up by people from the West so they feel better about themselves when moving to another country, and that expats are one and the same as immigrants but you can't label yourself as something you've made fun of for a very long time.

> be in Dubai
> casually get involved in a conversation with a random
> random calls himself an expat
> random refuses to be called in immigrant
> random leaves angry

I've always had an impression expat = someone who is in the country temporarily, while immigrant is someone who has moved for good, to live and die in that country. Expats often work remotely, or in short-term contracts, often in well-paid positions, while immigrants often start from scratch in low-paid jobs.

Someone above mentioned the term 'economic migrant' which I think is a separate third category - someone who is in the country temporarily, for the money, but in low-paid (for that country) jobs. Think Argentinians going to Mexico to work as waiters for a few months, to have the money to send back to their family, then return home to live off that money for a bit.

I think the difference between expats and immigrants is especially visible in case of muslim countries. An immigrant would be someone ready to accept their way of life - which quite differs from the Western one - while an expat would work and live in an isolated bubble of other expats, never intending to integrate/absorb the local culture much.

And there is no racism or classism in it, unless you make it about it. Immigrants can be white or of color; they can be rich or poor. Expats are not necessarily rich, by western standards, especially if they work remotely while living in a low cost location.

Different story for Muslims moving to Europe: they are succeeding in their colonial plans.

I'm curious - in what ways is it visible?

 

[rkadius]

I've always had an impression expat = someone who is in the country temporarily, while immigrant is someone who has moved for good, to live and die in that country. Expats often work remotely, or in short-term contracts, often in well-paid positions, while immigrants often start from scratch in low-paid jobs.

Someone above mentioned the term 'economic migrant' which I think is a separate third category - someone who is in the country temporarily, for the money, but in low-paid (for that country) jobs. Think Argentinians going to Mexico to work as waiters for a few months, to have the money to send back to their family, then return home to live off that money for a bit.

I think the difference between expats and immigrants is especially visible in case of muslim countries. An immigrant would be someone ready to accept their way of life - which quite differs from the Western one - while an expat would work and live in an isolated bubble of other expats, never intending to integrate/absorb the local culture much.

And there is no racism or classism in it, unless you make it about it. Immigrants can be white or of color; they can be rich or poor. Expats are not necessarily rich, by western standards, especially if they work remotely while living in a low cost location.


I'm curious - in what ways is it visible?

Check Sweden. Before and after.