Being an expat?

[PossibleExpat]

DH and I are thinking of moving abroad for a potential job opportunity. It’s a place we adore and love. I wondered how those who move abroad took the big decision?

I disagree with all this expat equals white colonial nonsense. I'm an immigrant to this country and an expat to my own eg someone who was ex patrioted or simply- left. If you are one, you are both and which depends on the context. I'm an expat for voting rights and taxes in my home country (lifelong tax liability for us) plus our community abroad and an immigrant for visas, assimilation etc here. I became a citizen but will always be foreign and unless I return to my home country will always be an expat to them.

I agree with you. I’ve lived in another country and I always said I was an immigrant.

when I was in China I considered myself an expat as our residency was solely governed by Dh’s job. The Chinese referred to us as waiguoren which means you are from outside China- so all grouped together regardless of ethnicity.

I decided I was bored in London at 28, and finding myself wonderfully single, quit my job and moved here (Caribbean) without another job lined up (back in 2007).

Got a job in law firm straight away and have lived here ever since. Id never even been to the Caribbean before, and I knew absolutely nobody except my recruiter. Best decision of my life.

Of course there are lots of details to think about but in terms of just deciding whether or not to go, I just thought what’s the worst that can happen here? If we go and we hate it, we come home again. It would be annoying and stressful and difficult but it wouldn’t be the end of the world

I consider myself an expat because I’m here on a work visa tied to a specific job - it’s literally called a ‘non-immigrant visa’ and I had to effectively prove I had no intention to settle in the country longterm at my visa interview. Very different from an immigrant who may move here for all kinds of reasons, including to get married, settle and gain citizenship.

It’s nothing to do with being white, it’s to do with the circumstances of moving to the country. No one argues that those who study aboard shouldn’t be referred to as ‘international students’ but as ‘immigrants’ instead.

What a complete non-issue.

Have lived abroad (mainland Europe ) for 20 years. Pluses and minuses to
be honest. Pluses- kids are totally bilingual and we now have the nationality of the country. Minuses- feel like I am stuck here and far from elderly parent. University fees in Europe are way way cheaper than UK so another plus point.

I assume immigrants to be people who are moving permanently and have obtained permission to move towards citizenship or have citizenship. Where I’ve lived expats covers every non citizen from wherever they are. It’s not loaded with race and colonialism in many places because it’s just describing your status in the country. I don’t fuss about it as a brown person.

We may be in the same place 🤣

15 years in and country number 3, I'd consider myself a serial expat as each move has been dictated by work and is temporary. Conversely, I was born in one country and moved to the UK as a child and grew up there - then I was an immigrant, and when (if) we move back to the UK, I'll still be an immigrant. Different people see it differently.

The specific country can change the views people will have on how good an idea it is. So when you're further down the path, I suggest posting specifically about it - or doing an advanced search on MN for previous posts, all the main places are covered off. For me, the biggest thing has been diving into it, don't look for similarities, even if it's English speaking (or the expat bubble is English speaking), you'll get more out of it if you really embrace where you live for all its differences.

Regarding kids, generally speaking, young kids are easier to move, but do take a moment to look ahead and consider options for if/when you move back. My two have got so much out of international schooling that despite overseas Uni fees, we've never regretted our decision to stay for the whole of their schooling, but we have friends who've had specific milestones when they knew they would move "home".

We didn’t have a choice 🫠
DH is military, but doesn’t have a typical uniformed military job. His job is adjacent to civilian roles within national security and the like, so more often than not, his job will require him to be in obscure places rather than on large military installations.
Right now, he happens to be working out of a massive military installation, so this move has been easier than some of the more obscure ones!
We have another move coming up towards the end of this year, and that’s looking like it’s going to be a much smaller, much quieter place without the added support that comes with being near a giant military base, but we’ll make it work! We always do!

Love that idea about looking at the differences! Thank you,

We just went for it without really having a clue. It's not been that great at all, not hugely financially beneficial after all the ins and outs despute it looking like an attractive package. We are currently aiming for 'reentry' to the UK and its difficult to match up us both finding and starting new jobs with evicting the tenant in our house. Grateful for the experience but it's been 'a bother' i probably wont bother with again!

Yes we are called expats by the populace, we live here but just for work, we don't have the rights we would if we were proper immigrants.