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I think about this all the time. Particularly the language used around all of this moving around. I called myself an 'expat' (living in countries with a specific very privileged visa only because of job that my husband had) until just over a year ago. Now I call myself an immigrant. Again with incredible privilege. Today, one year+ into the process, the police came to verify that I actually did live at the address that is on all of the (paper) forms I have filled out. Thank you for the article about the words and power and stigma around the phrase migrant worker. We took all of these opportunities outside of our home country for economic and family reasons and we have decided to stay in the final country. The process has certainly been easier (but not swifter) because of the passport we hold. The words I use should be the same too.

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Jul 8Author

Thanks so much for sharing, Gillian! I truly think that folks who can use 'expat' using immigrant is a lot like straight people using the word 'partner' to refer to their SO. It helps de-stigmatize and neutralize these words from any unpleasant connotations and discrimination. Thank you for reading as always, and for sharing your perspective! 💜

(Also the paperwork is ENDLESS no matter the passport held, so I guess we all commiserate on that pain lol)

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The amount of bullshit I had to navigate to move from South Africa to the UK despite the fact that my own mother was a Scottish passport holder 🫠

It’s like they only wanted to be colonising and not colonised themselves

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Jul 8Author

Hahahaha, ikr? Every single visa I've applied to (thousands of dollars, hundreds of documents later) has been a to a country that has either colonized my entire country (or parts of it). It's DEEPLY ironic to me every single time, oof.

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I feel this deeply, having started life with a mediocre passport and then gotten the privilege of “upgrading” to a very powerful passport once I became an adult and had lived in the country we immigrated to when I was a child.

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Jul 8Author

I think it's a long-term dream for so many folks from "developing" or "third-world" countries who go abroad to study, work, etc. to finally change their passport so they don't have to go through this visa hell over and over again. I'm really happy you managed to change your passport to a stronger one! 💜 Thanks so much for reading & sharing your perspective!

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