Later-Life Return Migration Identity (LLRMI)
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
Later-Life Return Migration Identity describes how long-term globally mobile adults experience self and belonging when they return to an origin or passport country after decades abroad, often in midlife or older age. Returning migrants may find that they feel like hidden immigrants in their supposed home, looking local but thinking differently after extended time in other cultures. LLRMI includes renegotiating relationships with family, childhood communities, and national narratives that may not match lived experience. For ATCKs and long-term expats, later-life return can trigger renewed identity confusion alongside opportunities for integration and meaning-making. Naming LLRMI helps practitioners normalize these dynamics and design support for repatriation that addresses identity, not just logistics.
Comparable terms
Returnee identity (migration research; broader; includes students and shorter-term migrants); Repatriate identity (HR/mobility; focused on corporate assignees; may not capture long-term or childhood mobility); Hidden immigrant (TCK literature; overlapping; emphasizes mismatch between appearance and inner world); Homecoming experience (community usage; romanticized; may gloss over difficulty); Late-life relocation (gerontology; broader; not necessarily international or identity-focused).
Why this matters
Including Later-Life Return Migration Identity fills a gap in vocabulary for older global adults who face complex identity work when returning “home”. The term supports counselors, coaches, and HR in recognizing that repatriation can be as challenging, or more challenging, than initial moves abroad, particularly when layered over aging. It also validates the experiences of ATCKs who grapple with where they truly belong late in life.
Cross-references
Hidden Immigrant (Identity & Belonging); ATCK (Identity & Belonging); Identity Confusion (Wellbeing & Mental Health); Repatriation (Transitions & Mobility). Hidden Immigrant provides the core conceptual frame for feeling foreign at home; ATCK identifies the adult population most prone to LLRMI. Identity Confusion captures the distress that can accompany return; Repatriation documents the broader process of coming back from an international assignment or long-term stay.
Sources
Pollock, D.C., Van Reken, R.E. & Pollock, M.V. (2017). Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds. Nicholas Brealey. Discusses hidden immigrant experiences and repatriation for TCKs and ATCKs. “Doing family” on a global stage (2021). Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques. Explores return and belonging for expatriate families. Transnational families and aged care: the mobility of care and the ageing body. Monash University research. Provides context for late-life movements and identity negotiations.
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