Expat-Immigrant-Tourist

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Gas
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Posted (edited)

 

20 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Lynn asked me to explain what an expat is.  As I tried to explain the difference between expats and immigrants and tourists etc, she quickly grasped that expats are just like Balikbayans who were not born in Philippines.

  How do you describe the difference between a expat, immigrant and tourist in the Philippines? Would be interesting to here how other members on the forum describe their status here in the country.

I would describe myself as an immigrant because i have no plans to return to my country of origin.

 

Edited by Gas
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Gratefuled
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I'm a "tourist"

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Dave Hounddriver
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I first heard the term in 1967 when my father was in the RCAF.  He was expatriated to Germany, (which simply meant he was being stationed in a foreign country for a few years), and later repatriated to Canada. Thus I grew up with the conception of expat as being one who was moving away from his land of residence to temporarily reside in a foreign country for a period of time more than a tourist but less than an immigrant.

Some expats pass away without ever returning to their homeland but they are still expats for so long as they call the place they came from "home".  Such is the concept I was raised with.  I'm sure there are many variations on the use of the word.  English is funny that way.

It does make me wonder if the military of other countries uses the terms expatriate and repatriate when stationing men in other countries of if was just an RCAF thing.  I have no idea if they still use that terminology.

Edited by Dave Hounddriver
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Jack Peterson
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5 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 I have no idea if they still use that terminology.

 No Dave because in Reality your are still in the Country of the  Service, as it is Crown Property (For the UK) Leased from which ever country you are in, So when I was in Germany for example Osnabruck RAF Station was a Little bit of the UK Now RAF Lakenheath (Where our departed Friend Chris 49 was Stationed) in Suffolk UK is Home for the US Air Force so the Guys there are still in the US, Governed by US regulations but once outside the Gate they are in the UK.

 Can't say about Canada but as a Commonwealth Country I do not see why you should feel an Expat.

 Suffice to say that anyone that works in an Embassy in a Foreign Country is in fact on their own Countries soil so NO! to me they are not Expats and have no need to repatriate themselves.

As I see it G & G's

 Now Jake correct please, when the Navy is out at sea, the Ship (Boat as a SUB is a National Home) if it was out for say 9 months to a year [and it can happen] they are still in their own Country. When they dock they are in another country (If they leave the Ship)

 OK Is this a Good answer for all

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Gas
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13 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Thus I grew up with the conception of expat as being one who was moving away from his land of residence to temporarily reside in a foreign country for a period of time more than a tourist but less than an immigrant.

That is how i sort of see it, however from  my experience  foreigner workers from certain countries are not classed as expats. When i lived in Hong Kong it seemed that there was a distinct  difference between expats, say from the UK and the Philippines even though both intended to return "home".

 

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Dave Hounddriver
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17 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

Can't say about Canada but as a Commonwealth Country I do not see why you should feel an Expat.

I can only tell you what all of us dependents and our dads called it when we lived in Germany.  You may have been on the base but our family lived in a little German town, rented a house there, had a gf there, but went to school on the base and were taught with Ontario curriculum.

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Mark Berkowitz
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I see myself as both an Expat and as a resident.

I know (and accept the fact) that the Philippines will never accept me as a Filipino but for the time being, I simply reside here (just like my classification on my ARC-I card).

Quite honestly, I really don’t feel like a tourist and I really don’t feel like an immigrant.
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AlwaysRt
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1 hour ago, Gas said:

That is how i sort of see it, however from  my experience  foreigner workers from certain countries are not classed as expats. When i lived in Hong Kong it seemed that there was a distinct  difference between expats, say from the UK and the Philippines even though both intended to return "home".

 

What difference are you talking about? Just the tendency for 'western' workers, usually for large corporations, to call themselves expats vs the common Filipino term of OFW? That is actually about the same as asking 2 people where they are from and one says America while the other says USA. 

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