> If I am proved correct,” he said, “the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist. If relativity is proved wrong, the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew.
While this sounds true and everyone likes to harp on it, there's another consideration. An immigrant is somebody who intends to stay forever, an expat is someone who plans to go back home eventually.
There are also legal considerations. My US visa for example specifically says it's a non-immigrant visitor's work visa. Legally speaking, I'm an expat.
Culturally ... I like to call myself a dirty immigrant. Riles people up a bit :P
edit for background: I come from the border between Central and Eastern Europe. Some say Slovenia is one, some say another. In the UK I would most definitely be an evil evil immigrant. In the US nobody really cares as long as I'm not brown.
I've seen an awful lot of references to Eastern Europeans in short to medium-term stints in the UK as "migrant workers" and nearly as many characterisations of British retirees buying property in Spain as "expats"...
Same here, technically I'd be an expat in the country I currently live and work. But technically, an "illegal immigrant" from Mexico in the US is also an expat.
So I'm an immigrant, and my grandparents were immigrants and refugees.
As far as I remember, you're in SF right now?
Mind sharing what kind of Visa you're on?
Croatian here, so wondering what kind of Visa I could get to work in US except a H-1B.
Reminds me of the recent The Grand Tour episode, when they mention how if you're famous for something positive you're called British, otherwise you're Scottish/Welsh.
List of famious Scottish People often include J.K.Rowling as Scottish, but Wikipedia lists her as English. So, it probably only applies to people that can claim both as she was born in England, but wrote the books in Scotland.
If you're rich, you're an expat.