Expatriate

This article is about foreign human residency. For the Australian indie rock band, see Expatriate (band). For the debut album by The Coast, see Expatriate (album).

Expatriate French voters queue in Lausanne for the first round of the presidential election of 2007

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 term expatriātus from ex ("out of") and patriā the ablative case of patria ("country, fatherland").

Background

In its broadest sense, an expatriate is any person living in a different country from where he or she is a citizen. In common usage, the term is often used in the context of professionals sent abroad by their companies, as opposed to locally hired staff (who can also be foreigners). The differentiation found in common usage usually comes down to socio-economic factors, so skilled professionals working in another country are described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer who has moved to another country to earn more money might be labelled an 'immigrant'. There is no set definition and usage does vary depending on context and individual preferences and prejudices.

In the 19th century, Americans, numbering perhaps in the thousands, were drawn to Europe—especially to Munich and Paris—to study the art of painting. Henry James, for instance, was a famous expatriate American writer from the 1870s, who adopted England as his home.

The term 'expatriate' in some countries also has a legal context used for tax purposes. An expatriate living in a country can receive a favorable tax treatment. In this context a person can only be an expatriate if they move to a country other than their own to work with the intent of returning to their home country within a period of no more than 5 fiscal years. This number of years can vary per tax jurisdiction, but 5 years is the most commonly used maximum period.

Notable expatriates

American expatriates

The phenomenon and image of Americans living abroad is significantly associated with certain cultural movements, particularly literature, in which these expatriate individuals and communities were portrayed. Some prime examples are American literary notables who lived in Paris from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression (the so-called Lost Generation), including Gertrude Stein, Robert McAlmon, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Janet Flanner, Solita Solano, Djuna Barnes, Kay Boyle, Harry and Caresse Crosby, Walter Lowenfels, Anais Nin and Henry Miller. Edith Wharton had already moved to Paris before WWI, and did not consider herself an expatriate. African-American expatriation to Paris also boomed after World War I, beginning with black American veterans who preferred the subtler racism of Paris to the oppressive racism and segregation in parts of the United States.

American painter Herbert Gentry in Falsterbo, Sweden in August 1990

In the 1920s black American writers, artists, and musicians arrived in Paris and popularized jazz in Parisian nightclubs, a time when Montmartre was known as "the Harlem of Paris." Some notable black American expatriates from the 1920s onward included Josephine Baker, Langston Hughes, and, after World War II, painters Herbert Gentry, Beauford Delaney, and Ed Clark; sculptor Harold Cousins, jazz musicians Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon; and writers Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Chester Himes. [1] In the 1960s a new wave of young black American visual artists chose to leave the U.S. They included Harvey Cropper, Arthur Hardie, Clifford Jackson, Sam Middleton, Earl Miller, Norman Morgan, Larry Potter, Mildred Thompson and Walter Williams. In the words of artist David C. Driskell, "They chose a form of cultural exile over expatriation, hoping for a better day to come about in the land of their birth." All settled in Europe.

Another famous group of expatriates was the so-called Beat Generation of American artists living in other countries during the 1950s and 1960s. This group included Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Harold Norse and Ira Cohen. Gary Snyder has studied Zen in Japan. Later generation expatriates included 1950s jazz musicians such as Steve Lacy, 1960s rock musicians Jim Morrison and Nina Simone, as well as 1970s singer-songwriter Elliott Murphy. New Worlds Science Fiction writers Thomas M. Disch, John Sladek and Pamela Zoline lived in London in the Swinging Sixties. Preceding the Beats by several years, and serving to some extent as a point of pilgrimage for many of them was the American expatriate composer and writer Paul Bowles, who spent time in Europe in the 30s before relocating to Tangier, Morocco in 1947, where he lived until his death in 1999. Poet Robert Lax lived in Greece for over thirty years.

More recently Prague in the former Czechoslovakia has attracted a large community of expatriates from the English-speaking world. In 1993 The New York Times estimated that more than 30,000 Americans were living in Prague and in the same year Bruce Sterling wrote in Wired magazine that "Prague is very much like Paris in the '20s" because of the richness of its expatriate activities, even if it lacked the focus of that earlier generation of expatriates. At its height, the expatriate community in Prague supported several literary publications, multiple English language theater companies and bookstores, and various reading and open mic series. And, though now somewhat diminished in size and range of activities, the English-language expatriates living in Prague remain an active and cohesive community.

Many American fashion designers have notably become expatriates in France and Italy to design for existing European design houses or to enhance their own collections. These fashion designers include Marisol Deluna, Tom Ford, Patrick Kelly, and Marc Jacobs.

Colorado-born actor, singer and songwriter Dean Reed never achieved great success in his native United States, but later achieved great popularity in South America, especially Argentina, Chile and Peru. He appeared in several Italian "spaghetti westerns" and finally spent much of his adult life in East Germany, but never renounced his USA citizenship. He was an immensely popular celebrity in Eastern Europe until his death in 1986.

American cartoonist Robert Crumb has lived in France since the mid-1990s. Madonna lives in England, and Johnny Depp lives in France.

According to the U.S. Department of State, there was a substantial rise in the number of American-born expatriates since 1990, from about 1.5 million to 4.5 million in 2005, to eventually grow to about 6 to 8 million by 2009. Most of the expatriates are retired and live on social security benefits, others are employed in international business, and those with strong unfavorable political views on American government.

Trends in expatriation

During the later half of the 20th century expatriation was dominated by professionals sent by their employers to foreign subsidiaries or headquarters. Starting at the end of the 20th century globalization created a global market for skilled professionals and leveled the income of skilled professionals relative to cost of living while the income differences of the unskilled remained large. Cost of intercontinental travel had become sufficiently low, such that employers not finding the skill in a local market could effectively turn to recruitment on a global scale.

This has created a different type of expatriate where commuter and short-term assignments are becoming more common and often used by organizations to supplement traditional expatriation. Private motivation is becoming more relevant than company assignment. Families might often stay behind when work opportunities amount to months instead of years. The cultural impact of this trend is more significant. Traditional corporate expatriates did not integrate and commonly only associated with the elite of the country they were living in. Modern expatriates form a global middle class with shared work experiences in multi-national corporation and working and living the global financial and economical centers. Integration is incomplete but strong cultural influences are transmitted. Middle class expatriates contain many re-migrants from emigration movements one or two generations earlier.

In Dubai the population is predominantly expatriates, from countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines, with only 20% of the population made up of citizens.

The continuing shift in expatriates has often been difficult to measure. According to UN statistics, more than 200 million people will be living outside of their home country in 2010. However, this number also includes economic migrants.

In terms of outbound expatriation, the UK has currently the highest number of expatriates among developed countries with more than three million British living abroad, followed by Germany and Italy. On an annual basis, emigration from the UK has stood at about 400,000 per year for the past 10 years. In terms of expatriates influx, the most popular expatriate destinations are currently Spain, followed by Germany and the UK.

The Expat Directory is currently collating information on expatriate movements to provide a statistical overview of expatriate origin and destination countries. Current statistics show that the majority of expatriates originate from the United States. The questionnaire aims to provide further information or key destinations and the length of time that expatriates spend overseas. The survey will remain open ended with monthly snapshots collated from March 2010.

According to linkexpats, Dubai claims the highest number of expatriates, followed by Abu Dhabi, and Muscat, Oman.

The Global Economic downturn of 2008/9 has seen many United Kingdom Expatriates returning back to the UK. This trend has been predominantly attributed to 'pensioner expatriates' with the poor exchange rate making life less affordable. The process of relocating back to one's home country is known as repatriation and brings with it a specific set of challenges.

Business handling of expatriate employees

In dealing with expatriates, an international company should recognise their value and have experienced staff to deal with them and follow written policies on expatriates' benefits. Salary of internationally assigned personnel customarily consists of standard salary and monetary benefits such as cost of living and/or hardship allowances supported by non-monetary incentives i.e. housing and education. Some companies will completely cover the cost of the education, even at relatively expensive international schools, while other, usually smaller companies, encourage families to find local schooling options.

International corporations often have a company-wide policy and coaching system that includes spouses at an earlier stage in the decision-making process, giving spouses an official voice. Not many companies provide any compensation for loss of income of expatriate spouses, although they often do provide other benefits and assistance. The level of support differs, ranging from offering a job-hunting course for spouses at the new location to full service partner support structures, run by volunteering spouses supported by the organization. An example of an expatriate-led project can be found in the Gracia Arts Project of Barcelona.

There are several advantages and disadvantages of using expatriate employees to staff international company subsidiaries. Advantages include, permitting closer control and coordination of international subsidiaries and providing a broader global perspective. Disadvantages include high transfer costs, the possibility of encountering local government restrictions, and possibly creating a problem of adaptability to foreign environments.

Subtleties of usage

In some countries, such as Switzerland, the term "expat" is not used for all foreigners living and working there, but only to those on "expat" contracts. Typical Swiss expats will be living in housing provided by the employer, with most other expenses such as children's (English) education also paid by the employer. In theory, this is because they are still maintaining a home in their original country. This is in strong contrast with those on "local" contracts who are treated and paid like other locals. The "expats" have a reputation of being flush with money, and raising the prices for others who are not subsidised in this way. Expat contracts are usually time limited, so the expats either move on to another assignment, or are given a local contract without expat subsidies.

See also

• Worldwide ERC (Employee Relocation Council) for employment trends in international assignment management.
• Alien (law)
• Gastarbeiter ("guest worker")
• Ethnic enclave
• Existential migration
• English-language radio
• Canadians of convenience
• Third culture kid
• Permanent residency (compare and contrast with domicile)
• Domicile (compare and contrast with permanent residency)
• Cosmopolitanism
• Diaspora
• Teaching English overseas
• Migrant Worker

Further reading

• Cardy, Robert (2007). Managing Human Resources. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN 0-13-187067-x. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)