TABLE 1.

Definitions of migrants and related terms (International Organization for Migration, 2019)

Term	Definition
Migrant	An umbrella term, not defined under international law, reflecting the common lay understanding of a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons. The term includes a number of well-defined legal categories of people, such as migrant workers; persons whose particular types of movements are legally-defined, such as smuggled migrants; as well as those whose status or means of movement are not specifically defined under international law, such as international students.
	Note: At the international level, no universally accepted definition for “migrant” exists. The present definition was developed by IOM for its own purposes and it is not meant to imply or create any new legal category.
Asylum seeker	An individual who is seeking international protection. In countries with individualized procedures, an asylum seeker is someone whose claim has not yet been finally decided on by the country in which he or she has submitted it. Not every asylum seeker will ultimately be recognized as a refugee, but every recognized refugee is initially an asylum seeker.
Emigrant	From the perspective of the country of departure, a person who moves from his or her country of nationality or usual residence to another country, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence.
Immigrant	From the perspective of the country of arrival, a person who moves into a country other than that of his or her nationality or usual residence, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence.
Migrant worker	A person who is to be engaged, is engaged, or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national.
Migration health	A public health topic which refers to the theory and practice of assessing and addressing migration-associated factors that can potentially affect the physical, social and mental well-being of migrants and the public health of host communities.
Naturalization	When an immigrant becomes a citizen of the country to which they migrated.
Refugee	A person who qualifies for the protection of the United Nations provided by the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in accordance with UNHCR’s Statute and, notably, subsequent General Assembly’s resolutions clarifying the scope of UNHCR’s competency, regardless of whether or not he or she is in a country that is a party to the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol—or a relevant regional refugee instrument—or whether or not he or she has been recognized by his or her host country as a refugee under either of these instruments.
Undocumented migrant	A nonnational who enters or stays in a country without the appropriate documentation.