immigration

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The act of coming to live permanently in a country that is not your original home.

   Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural when talking about the process in general: Immigration has increased.

   Patterns

   • immigration to a country
   • immigration from a country
   • immigration policy
   • illegal immigration

   Immigration to Canada has risen steadily over the past decade.

   The government announced new rules on immigration from outside the EU.

   She wrote her thesis on the history of immigration in the United States.

2. 2noununcountable

   The place at an airport or border where officials check people entering a country.

   Grammar: Often used with 'at' or 'through': go through immigration.

   Patterns

   • go through immigration
   • at immigration
   • immigration officer
   • immigration control

   We had to wait an hour at immigration before collecting our bags.

   The immigration officer asked to see my visa and return ticket.

   You'll pass through immigration as soon as you get off the plane.

3. 3noununcountable

   The total number of people coming to live in a country, considered as a group.

   Grammar: Takes a singular verb when treated as a single quantity: Immigration was at a record high.

   Patterns

   • immigration was high
   • a wave of immigration
   • levels of immigration

   Immigration reached its highest level in twenty years last spring.

   A wave of immigration in the 1950s changed the country's culture.

   Economists debate how immigration affects wages.

Common combinations

immigration policy

The party promised a tougher immigration policy.

illegal immigration

Illegal immigration is a major issue in the election.

immigration officer

The immigration officer stamped my passport.

mass immigration

Mass immigration transformed the city in just a few decades.

immigration controls

The country tightened its immigration controls after the attacks.

Synonyms and how they differ

migration

Migration is a broader term that can be within a country or between countries, while immigration specifically means coming into a new country to live.

settlement

Settlement focuses on the result of making a new home, not the process of entering the country.

Opposites

Word family

immigrate verb

To come to live permanently in a foreign country.

immigrant noun

A person who has come to live in a country from somewhere else.

immigration noun

The process or place of entering a new country to live.

Commonly confused: immigration or emigration?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “immigration”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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