Needless to say I'm happy with my choices, although I do see a future where the value of my skills approach zero because of AI.
I'm confident I can adapt to that future.
An expat is typically someone who is being moved by their employer, to a country other than their own, for a limited amount of time. Being white has nothing to do with it. I have known expats of every color and national origin. This term is still used by companies that send ‘expatriates’ out to other locations. Think someone going from SF to London for 3 years to set up a new office.
If you are moving somewhere on your own volition, you are an immigrant. You can also be a temporary immigrant, an undocumented immigrant etc.
If you are moving from country to country for short periods and working, you are a digital nomad. If you are moving countries but not working, you are a tourist. If you choose to stay forever in a country, you turn into an immigrant even if you were an expat, a digital nomad or a tourist before.
I guess what you are called comes down to your intent.
Source: personal experience of being an expat, an immigrant, and a digital nomad at different points of my life.
You would be right if this is what expat was used for.
But now every immigrant from the UK, for example, refers to themselves as an expat, even if they’re working for a company local to the country they moved to.
Whereas in western countries we have “new Germans” or “new British” from all over the world.
They would argue that they don’t intend to stay forever in their new country so that makes them expats.
But like the post I replied to pointed out, someone from Bangladesh would not be called an expat but migrant worker. This is where class and social status gets mixed up in this as well.
I think they are both temporary immigrants.
To make it even more confusing, I know a few people who are ‘expats’ in their country of origin because they immigrated and then their employer moved them temporarily to their original country.
