Praxis Elementary Education: RLA and Social Studies (5007) Practice Test

Leaving one’s homeland to live in another country is called emigration. An emigrant is the person who leaves the country to settle elsewhere, especially when the move is permanent. This makes emigration the clearest label for people who depart their homeland with the intention of living in a new country.

Residents stay in their homeland, so they don’t fit. Backpackers travel for short periods and don’t intend to settle long-term. Expatriates live outside their home country, often for work or study, but the move isn’t necessarily permanent, so it’s less precise for “permanently.” The most exact term for people who leave their homeland to live elsewhere is emigrants.