Difference Between Immigrate and Emigrate

Migrate refers to a temporary movement of the animals or birds from one geographic location to another, due to seasonal changes. The words, immigrate and emigrate are originated from the word migrate, which also refers to the permanent movement of people. Due to the very reason, there is a confusion with respect to their usage. While immigrate means the entering a new country and settling there permanently.

On the other hand, emigrate implies leaving the country of origin and moving to another one. Let’s look at the example below to understand their difference:

• The year in which Robert emigrated to Australia, is the year in which he immigrated to Denmark.

In this example, emigrated focuses to the country from which Robert moved out and immigrated talks about the country to which he shifted.

So in this way the two terms are just the opposite of one another. Indeed, the basic difference between the two lies in the standpoint, as in when the country which is left, taken as a standpoint, we have to use emigrate there, whereas when the country in which the person enters is our standpoint, we’ll use immigrate.

Content: Immigrate Vs Emigrate

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Examples
5. How to remember the difference

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Immigrate	Emigrate
Meaning	Immigrate implies to come to reside in a foreign country permanently.	Emigrate means to exit or leave the home country to permanently shift to another country.
Pronunciation	ˈɪmɪɡreɪt	ˈɛmɪɡreɪt
Usage	When the sentence is focusing at the point of arrival we use immigrate.	When the sentence is focusing on the point of departure we use emigrate.
Example	When are you immigrating to London?	In 2001, Poorvi emigrated from India.
	Immigration rules are very strict.	He left with no choice except to emigrate.

Definition of Immigrate

The word immigrate refers to permanently settling into a country, after leaving the native one, due to reasons like war, conflicts, job opportunities or anything else. On immigration an individual moves to another country, which is not native to him for lifelong residence.

The process of shifting of people to a country is called as immigration, and the ones who immigrate are known as an immigrant in the host country, i.e. the country which adopts the citizens of another country. Let’s look at these examples to understand the term better:

• Disha immigrated to Paris with his husband last year.
• After the riots begin, the family immigrated to Indonesia.

Definition of Emigrate

The word ’emigrate’ means to go away from a country permanently, so as to settle in another one. We use the word emigrate to express a condition when a person leaves his native place and resides in another country for the rest of his/her life.

The process is known as emigration, and the people who move from one country to another are known as an emigrant in the home country. See the examples given below:

• The family emigrated from Japan, due to their health issues.
• Peter decided to emigrate from Canada.
• Many people emigrate from India to America, for better studies and opportunities.

Example

Immigrate

• Bella’s husband immigrated to Europe, after her demise.
• Rahul’s ancestors, immigrated to Austria, during the 19th century.

Emigrate

• Many people emigrate because of political ups and downs and economic recession.
• Just before I took birth, my uncle emigrated from the United States to the United Kingdom.

How to remember the difference

A great way to memorize the difference between immigrate and emigrate is to look at their initials, i.e. immigrate start with the prefix ‘im’ (or say ‘in’), to reflect moving into. On the contrary, the word emigrate starts with the prefix ‘e’ (or say ‘ex’), which means ‘moving out of.