There are rich arab or chinese expats in the west, are they called immigrants? I think expats refers to the temporary&#x2F;revocable&#x2F;definitely-not-forced status of the immigrant. In my greek native, expat and immigrant are used interchangably (ομογενής &#x2F;μετανάστης)<p>That said, &quot;expat&quot; is the wrong term for someone who renounced his original citizenship. I guess they should be called &quot;pats&quot; now.