Hi, I am a new member on this site that is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Congratulations. I have been making a presence in Puerto Rico for 15 years with property ownership for 13 years. I had never considered myself an expat as I have/had an equal footing on both places. I am seriously considering officially becoming a Puerto Rico resident. There could be many benefits to this transition as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is going through a transition. My experiences here in Puerto Rico is more with Puerto Ricans as I live in Ponce and surrounding area and there are very few Americans that live here. Maybe 3 if I include myself. Maybe more but I do not know them. My question is what is an expat? Is it having a vacation home or a temporary respite from the winters or is it expatriating oneself from the country they lived in and able to keep their citizenship? If anyone can give me a heads up on this question I would certainly appreciate it. There are a lot of insights I can share about living and integrating into life here but I certainly would like to hear from some veteran expats who dive deeper into life here like the existing tax structure and the potential emerging tax structure. Community involvement etc. thanks
What is an expat?
As far as I know there's no fixed definition for Expat. Wikepedia says: "An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of their citizenship. The word comes from the Latin terms ex ("out of") and patria ("country, fatherland")."
According to that definition US Americans who live in Puerto Rico are no expats since PR is part of the US.
I consider myself an expat although since a couple of months I am a US citizen so technically I'm more like an immigrant.
The majority of the contributors on this forum are US Americans who either spend a lot of time here or who live here permanently so you fit in perfectly. 
It really is an interesting term. Here is a blog a came across discussing that same subject. Moderators, I hope this is OK to post, if not feel free to remove it http://www.lifetransplanet.com/2015/01/ … erto-rico/
Gary wrote:... since PR is part of the US.
Actually, this is not technically correct. Puerto Rico is a territorial possession (unincorporated territory) but not part of the United States. Unincorporated (from latin) means not formed into the body - that is, in this context, not part of the (body of the) U.S.
Thanks all, I guess I am about as much as an expat as the bunch. Enjoyed the article by Cassie. I commented on it by sharing that my neighbors near my farm tell me that I am more Boricua than they are because of my passion and connection to the land. I think I might start a blog..."becoming Boricua" living close to the land and self sufficiency on the island of Boriquen, (Puerto Rico). I have been meeting more individuals Puerto Rican, Americanos and others who are putting the land to use. Yeh.
It does seem to put us in a place not so easily defined. I can only imagine the difficulty it has put Puerto Ricans in if one has to be defined. West Side Story did not help.
Please share your blog is you start one, I'd love to follow it!
Personally, I don't consider snow-birds "expats". Same for situations like the one Gary is in. So I'm not an "expat" in Ireland or the UK although I was born in the US.
Anolis raises an interesting point re "part of the US" although Gary isn't wrong either.
Since an ex-pat is a person who has left his or her country of citizenship to relocate to a different country, then by such a definition a US citizen moving to Puerto Rico or any of the US territories is not an ex-pat. The folks who are citizens of the territories are US citizens as well. They serve in and are protected by the US military, elect representatives (non-voting) to Congress, and are afforded rights and responsibilities of the US Constitution. It is exactly this reason that we are planning to retire in a US territory. However, just as each state has its own laws and programs, so do the territories.
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