Difference between who is considered an expat and immigrant (rating, visa, income)

[FatDave]

I am often bothered by this differentiation between these two terms. They technically mean the same thing. However, I have noticed that a westerner who lives in a foreign country refers to themselves as an expat. However, when a foreigner lives in North America they are usually referred to as an immigrant. What do you believe is the difference between an immigrant and an expat?

[Mattks]

Immigrant plans on permanent relocation, typically with the goal of obtaining citizenship and expat is someone who is not permanent, not immigrating, they relocated for work reasons or other reasons and plan on returning to their home country. There are many foreign expats in the US just as I know of a few US immigrants to other countries. People don’t typically immigrate out of well developed countries. Some expats do end up immigrating, but it’s not typically their original goal.

[dothetwist]

We first bought a home in Mexico in 2008 and lived there full-time (other than 6 weeks a year in the US). Our MX visa status was as a temporary resident. We had to renew the visa annually and show proof of income. We moved back to the US in 2012 to deal with family elder care issues and reluctantly sold our MXN home.

Earlier this year (on Inauguration Day to be exact) we bought another MXN home. We opted to get permanent residency status. It is US equivalent of a green card, never needs to be renewed (it required higher income levels).

We own a home in FL but will only use it 12 weeks a year (medical and family visits). We consider ourselves expats, and even if we sell our US home, will continue to be viewed as expats.

US tax laws are punitive on citizens who renounce their US citizenship, so we won't do that. We may go for MXN citizenship, which would make us dual citizens. If we do that, then I would consider us to be immigrants.