Re:Brits head home to avoid being deported as illegals in Spain
by overscore on Sunday March 28, 2021 @01:25AM
(#26608202)
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.
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?