Who is Expatriate?

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and the Greek and Latin patria (pat - country), and is sometimes misspelled (either unintentionally or intentionally) as ex-patriot or short x-pat, because of its pronunciation.

The term is often used in the context of Westerners living in non-Western countries, although it is also used to describe Westerners living in other Western countries, such as Australians living in the United Kingdom, or Britons living in Spain.

Expatriate can just as well be used to describe any person living in a country other than where they hold citizenship, but is generally not used for government officials stationed in a foreign country.

The difference between an expatriate and an immigrant is that immigrants (for the most part) commit themselves to becoming a part of their country of residence, whereas expatriates are usually only temporarily placed in the host country and most of the time plan on returning to their home country, so they never adopt the culture in the host country - though some may end up never actually returning, with the distinction then becoming more a matter of their own viewpoint.