I am a self-proclaimed expat. If someone asks a room full of people who is an expat, I raise my hand. I publish blog posts in an 'expat' category and use #expatlife on my Instagram posts. Unfortunately, the word expat has an image problem. I don't really have a negative association with the word expat, but some people do. I also sometimes get the question 'Why do you consider yourself an expat rather than an immigrant?' and sometimes I ask myself the same. This is my fourth year not living in my home country and I think it's time to peel back the layers and look into the expat vs immigrant debate.
THE ASSUMPTIONS
There are already many debates out there trying to define the difference between expats and immigrants. The word expat is loaded. It carries a lot of assumptions and preconsceptions, of which the most common is probably the following: A privileged white person living the jetset life flying back and forth between London, Paris, Milan or New York. Business-class. In other words, you expect an educated, rich professional living abroad to be an expat. An asian maid or a mexican construction worker on the other hand - is deemed an immigrant, foreign worker or migrant worker.
THE DEFINITIONS
Wikpedia says “an expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (‘out of’) and patria (‘country, fatherland’)”. The Cambridge dictionary defines expatriats as "living in a country that is not your own country".
An immigrant on the other hand is a person moving "to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens". They want to live in another country permanently. Consequently, being and expat vs immigrant is not so much related to your socio-economic status but the motiavtion behind your move.
THE REALITY
The reality however often looks very different. I have been living outside my home country for almost four years. I have lived in the US and am now living in Ireland. I have met many people who lived outside of their home country - abroad and back home in Germany. Some of them call themselves expats. Others just referred to themselves as living abroad. Some of them did not like to be labelled as an expat because of the stereotypes associated with the term and they did not want to be perceived as entitled.
I am probably entitled. Not in a sense that I grew up with rich parents who send me off to school in France and then to an internship in New York. Quite the opposite, actually. My family could have barely afforded a high school exchange with the US in my teenage years, so I skipped on the experience, since I did not want to be a financial burden. I worked and am still working hard to live the life I want. Yet, I am entitled in a way that I am white, I was born and raised in Germany, with a high-school and two university degrees. Yes, I did work for these things, but I am not naive enough to believe everyone in the world has the same chances.
THE CONCLUSION
In the literal sense of the word, I am an expat. Some people might not want this label because of the baggage it comes with. And maybe it is time to get rid of some of the baggage and reclaim the word expat. There is no one stopping you from calling the Asian maid or the Mexican construction worker an expat. As many of us are starting to feel more as global citizens, we should explore more how identities are changing and how we can welcome people from other cultures into our own. Let's show the world that our understanding of globally mobile people has evolved and is ever-evolving. And this is where my privilege comes in – as a writer and as an expat – to fight for the change that I hope to see and to speak up for those who can’t.
What is your opinion on the expat vs immigrant debate? I would love to know how you describe yourself if you live abroad!
Kate recommends: Zeba Talkhani writes about her own experience growing up in a patriarchal society in Saudi Arabia and her journey in different countries such as India, Germany and the UK. This book is about the perspective of an outsider and fighting about the rigfhts to her individuality as a Muslim feminist. My Past Is A Foreign Country is definitely a must read and will also give you a good perspective about the motivation of moving abroad.