immigration

immigration — noun

1. the process of entering and settling in a country that is not your own, usually

1.nounB2
Definition

the process of entering and settling in a country that is not your own, usually in order to live there permanently.

Example

After years of paperwork, Tuan's family finally received their immigration visa to join relatives in Melbourne.

immigration + visa / paperwork

Kemi read several books about the history of immigration to the United States in the early twentieth century.

Common collocations
  • immigration policy
  • immigration law
  • immigration rules
  • immigration visa
  • wave of immigration
  • rate of immigration
  • illegal immigration
  • legal immigration
Synonyms
  • resettlement

    more formal; often used by governments and aid agencies for relocating refugees

  • relocation

    broader meaning; can be within the same country, not necessarily across borders

  • influx

    focuses on the large number of people arriving over a short time, not the process

Antonyms
  • emigration

    leaving your own country to live elsewhere — the opposite direction of movement

Grammar Patterns

immigration + to / from (country)

Usage Note

Uncountable noun: not 'an immigration' or 'many immigrations'. Use quantifiers such as 'a wave of immigration', 'levels of immigration', or 'the rate of immigration'. Frequently appears as a noun modifier: 'immigration policy', 'immigration law', 'immigration history'.

Common Mistakes

The immigration to Canada is popular among Hong Kongers.
Immigration to Canada is popular among Hong Kongers.
'immigration' is uncountable; do not use an article.
There are many immigrations from India every year.
There is a lot of immigration from India every year.
use 'a lot of / a high level of' instead of a plural form.

2. the place at an airport, seaport, or land border where officials check your pass

2.nounB1
Definition

the place at an airport, seaport, or land border where officials check your passport and travel documents to decide whether you can enter the country.

Example

The queue at immigration stretched all the way back to the departure gates, so we nearly missed our connecting flight.

queue / line at immigration

The immigration officer asked Defne how long she planned to stay and where she would be living.

immigration officer + questions about stay

Common collocations
  • immigration officer
  • immigration desk
  • immigration checkpoint
  • immigration control
  • go through immigration
  • get through immigration
  • at immigration
  • pass through immigration
Synonyms
  • border control

    broader term that may include both people and goods checks

  • passport control

    specifically the desk where passports are checked; more common in British airports

  • customs

    often confused with 'immigration'; 'customs' checks what you bring into the country, not your identity

Grammar Patterns

go / get through immigration

at immigration

Usage Note

Frequently used without an article in phrases such as 'go through immigration', 'at immigration', or 'pass through immigration'. In this sense 'immigration' refers to a physical place and process at a border, not to the broader social phenomenon described in sense 1. Can be further distinguished from 'customs', which checks goods rather than people.

Common Mistakes

I waited in the immigration for two hours.
I waited at immigration for two hours.
use 'at' not 'in' when referring to the checkpoint.
We passed through the immigrations quickly.
We passed through immigration quickly.
no plural form in this sense.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three words describe movement of people, but from different viewpoints. 'Immigration' focuses on people entering a country that is not their own to live there — the destination's perspective. 'Emigration' looks at the same act but from the country people are leaving: a family's emigration from China is their immigration to Canada. 'Migration' is the broadest term; it covers any movement from one place to another, including animals and seasonal labour, and includes movement within the same country. A bird's migration south for winter is never called immigration. For learners a useful trick: im- means 'in' (into the country), e- means 'out' (exiting), and 'migration' is the general umbrella.

immigration ↗emigrationmigration ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • immigration policy
  • immigration law
  • immigration reform
  • immigration history
  • immigration patterns

Adverbs

  • illegal immigration
  • legal immigration
  • mass immigration
  • large-scale immigration
  • net immigration

Phrases

  • a wave of immigration
  • the rate of immigration
  • levels of immigration
  • immigration and border control

Prepositions

  • immigration to
  • immigration from
  • through immigration
  • at immigration

Etymology

LatinEnglish

'Immigration' entered English in the early 17th century, formed from the Latin prefix 'in-' (into) and 'migrare' (to move from one place to another). The related verb 'immigrate' appeared later in the 19th century as the United States received large numbers of new arrivals. The word was built on the same root as 'migrate' and 'emigrate', with the prefix shifted to show the direction of the movement.