The Oxford English Dictionary defines "expatriate" as a person who lives outside their native country. It defines "immigrant" as a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country. Read literally, the only difference is the word "permanently". Read in practice, the difference is not duration. The difference is class, capital, color, and the calculus of return. This page exists because every other piece on everycity.guide uses one word or the other for specific reasons, and a reader deserves to know what we mean when we use them.
This is a theme page, not an opinion piece. We will not tell you which word to apply to yourself. We will lay out the 4 axes the international system actually runs on, the data behind each axis, and the operational implications for someone planning a move. If you arrived here by accident, the short version: the words are not synonyms in practice and conflating them confuses the analysis. The longer version follows.
If you only read one paragraph.
An expat is a person living outside their country of citizenship, usually with the legal right to return, usually with a transferable income source, usually treated by the host country as a temporary or skilled migrant. An immigrant is a person who has moved to a new country with the intent to settle, usually with permanent residency or citizenship as the goal, usually treated by the host country as a long term member of the population. The terms overlap. They are not interchangeable. In standard everycity.guide editorial practice, we use "expat" for someone on a renewable temporary residence permit, "immigrant" for someone on a permanent residence or naturalization track, and "international resident" when the distinction is genuinely indeterminate.
What actually separates the two words.
Axis 1: Legal status
The legal system is the cleanest line. A person on a temporary residence permit (1 to 5 years, renewable, tied to an employer or income source) is structurally an expat. A person on permanent residence (no employer tie, no renewal cycle, no income condition) is structurally an immigrant. A person who has naturalized into citizenship is no longer either by the legal definition. The countries that issue the most temporary permits to high income earners (Singapore, UAE, Switzerland, Hong Kong) are the countries where the population's vocabulary leans heavily on "expat". The countries that aim most permits at permanent residence (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany) lean toward "immigrant".
Axis 2: Intent to return
The expat assumes return. The immigrant does not. This is the distinction the OED gestures at with "permanently" but the reality is more nuanced. A British banker in Dubai for 6 years who fully intends to retire back to Surrey is an expat by intent, regardless of the legal label. A Brazilian engineer on a 1 year Portuguese D7 visa who has already enrolled the kids in Portuguese school is an immigrant by intent, regardless of the legal label. Intent is harder to measure but it is the axis where most self description happens.
Axis 3: Capital position
The honest data point. The Migration Policy Institute's 2024 review found that the term "expat" in English language media is applied to migrants from G7 countries at a rate of 78%, against 14% of migrants from sub Saharan Africa, even when the legal status, the country of residence, and the duration of stay are identical. The asymmetry is largely about perceived capital. People with transferable capital, marketable skills, or freelance income carry the option of return. People who left under duress, or for whom the host country offers a structural step up, do not. That asymmetry shapes vocabulary in ways that the dictionary does not capture.
Axis 4: Identity continuity
The expat maintains identity continuity with the country of origin. The immigrant builds a new identity oriented toward the host country. This is the slowest moving axis, often only visible after a decade of residence. A person who is still attending the annual British Embassy garden party in Bangkok after 12 years is an expat by this axis. A person who has taken citizenship, votes in local elections, raises children in the host language and has not visited the country of origin in 8 years is an immigrant by this axis. Most international residents sit between these poles and move along it slowly.
How the words actually distribute.
The relevant figures, drawn from OECD International Migration Outlook 2024 and the Migration Policy Institute 2024 review:
| Origin region | "Expat" applied | "Immigrant" applied |
|---|---|---|
| Western Europe and North America | 78% | 22% |
| Australia and New Zealand | 71% | 29% |
| Japan, South Korea, Singapore | 62% | 38% |
| Gulf states (Saudi, UAE, Kuwait) | 54% | 46% |
| Latin America | 31% | 69% |
| South Asia and Southeast Asia | 22% | 78% |
| Sub Saharan Africa | 14% | 86% |
| Middle East and North Africa | 18% | 82% |
The pattern is unambiguous. The word "expat" in English language media correlates strongly with origin country GDP per capita. The word "immigrant" correlates inversely. Two people with identical permits, identical incomes, identical durations of stay, and identical countries of residence are described differently based on where they come from. We mention this because the categories are not as neutral as they appear in casual usage.
Why the word choice matters in practice.
For the migrant themselves, the word matters because it shapes the interaction with three external systems. Immigration authorities use the legal definitions and largely ignore the social vocabulary. Banks, landlords, and employers use a mix of legal definitions and assumed permanence. Host country residents use a vocabulary that draws heavily on origin country and perceived capital, regardless of legal status. The same person can be all three things at once: an "expat" to the British Embassy garden party invitations, an "immigrant" to the bank's loan underwriting, and a "foreign resident" to the tax authority.
The practical advice we offer in our moving abroad pillar is to assume the more demanding interpretation in every system that touches legal compliance or money. If the bank treats you as a long term resident for know your customer purposes, fill in the paperwork as a long term resident. If the tax authority treats you as a tax resident under the 183 day rule, file as one. The social vocabulary is a separate axis and does not need to be reconciled with the legal one.
How the vocabulary actually lands in major destinations.
United Kingdom
The UK system uses the legal categories "settled status", "indefinite leave to remain", "skilled worker visa" with no terminological preference for "expat" or "immigrant" in the statute. Media usage tends to apply "expat" to British people abroad and "immigrant" to people arriving in Britain, regardless of the underlying legal symmetry. We use "international resident" in most UK contexts on London, Edinburgh and Manchester pages.
United States
The US system uses "lawful permanent resident" (green card holder) and "non immigrant visa holder" as the legal terms. Media usage is heavily skewed toward "immigrant" for arrivals and "American abroad" or "expat" for departures. We default to legal terms on US city pages including New York, Austin and Miami.
Germany
Germany's Migrationshintergrund category in census data captures the population with migration background regardless of citizenship status, which is structurally an immigrant framing. "Expat" appears in English language media coverage of Berlin and Munich, but the German system treats most long term residents as immigrants. We use "immigrant" for permanent residents in our Germany guide.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE has the highest non citizen share of any major economy at 88% of total population. The local vocabulary uses "expat" universally for non citizen residents, regardless of duration or origin. Citizenship is structurally not available except by Emirati lineage. The "expat" label is therefore the only available term that does not impose a path that does not exist. We use "expat" extensively on Dubai and Abu Dhabi pages.
Japan
Japan uses "gaikokujin" (foreigner) as the catch all legal and social term. English language coverage tends to use "expat" for short term skilled migrants and "immigrant" for spouses of Japanese nationals and long term residents on permanent residence. We use both terms on the Tokyo profile and the Japan 2026 guide depending on the residency permit being discussed.
Singapore
Singapore distinguishes Employment Pass holders (skilled work permits, no permanent residency) from Permanent Residents. The local vocabulary treats EP holders as expats and PRs as something closer to immigrants, with the second generation typically referred to as Singaporean regardless of origin. We use "expat" for EP holders and "permanent resident" or "immigrant" for PR holders on the Singapore profile.
How we write about this on the atlas.
The editorial standard we apply across every page on everycity.guide. Use "expat" when the person being discussed holds a temporary residence permit, has not begun a permanent residency or naturalization track, and the term is the locally dominant vocabulary. Use "immigrant" when the person holds permanent residency or has naturalized, or when the term is the locally dominant vocabulary regardless of permit class. Use "international resident" when neither applies cleanly, when the audience may apply different terms, or when the page is comparing across multiple jurisdictions with different conventions.
We never use "expat" as an aspirational identity marker. We never use "immigrant" as a pejorative. We treat both words as functional categories that describe a relationship to a host country at a point in time. The relationship can change. The vocabulary can change with it.
What you should take from this page.
If you are reading this page because you are about to move abroad, the takeaway is that the word you call yourself is far less important than the legal status you actually hold and the systems you interact with. Fill in your bank forms with care. Read your visa conditions. Understand whether you are on a renewable permit or a permanent residency track. Those things have consequences. The vocabulary that other people use about you will catch up.
If you are reading this page because you are choosing between countries, our cluster of relevant reading: the moving abroad pillar for the framework, the 2026 digital nomad visas ranking, the golden visa programs ranking, the Portugal guide, the Spain guide, the Japan guide, the Ireland guide, the Germany guide, and the Mexico guide. Each of those pieces uses the vocabulary in line with the standard above. If a usage appears inconsistent, it is because the local context made it the right call, not because the standard slipped.
The longer treatment of how host countries categorize international residents structurally is covered in the permanent residency vs citizenship and digital nomad vs resident theme pages. For the city level pieces that this terminology actually shapes, see the Dubai profile, the Lisbon profile, the Singapore profile and the Berlin profile. The tax residency framework that underpins much of this lives in the tax residency explainer.