What about immigration?

"Immigration" simply means that someone has changed his permanent residence. But "internal migration" and "immigration" are two different concepts.

Generally speaking, domestic migration refers to the overall migration of residents in administrative areas (such as villages, townships, towns and counties), which is carried out according to the arrangement of the government. The reasons may be the occupation of land by large-scale national construction projects, the harm of ground disasters, the need for war preparedness and so on.

Immigration is an individual behavior. Individuals and their families go to another country to settle down out of consideration for life, work and education.

Generally speaking, when you immigrate to a country, you get the "permanent residency" of that country or become a citizen of that country. Note that, unlike many people's understanding, immigration means joining a foreign country. In fact, most people who emigrated abroad are still China citizens, but they have obtained the permanent residency in foreign countries.

But emigrating to a certain country does not necessarily mean that you must settle in that country. As long as a person has obtained permanent residency in a foreign country or acquired a foreign nationality, he or she is regarded as an immigrant even if he or she still lives in his or her home country for a long time or often.

On the other hand, although some people have lived abroad for a long time, such as holding a foreign work visa and working in a foreign country, or holding other types of foreign visas and living in a foreign country for half a year, these people cannot be regarded as "emigrating abroad" because they have no permanent residency in a foreign country.