Foreign national is a term used to describe a person who is not a citizen of the host country in which he or she is residing or temporarily sojourning. In Canada, a foreign national is defined as someone who is not a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident of Canada.[1] In the European Union, however, the term foreign national is often used synonymously with "third country national" to mean someone who is not a citizen of the host country where they are residing, nor are they a citizen of any other EU Member State.[2]
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security a foreign national is defined simply as "an individual who is a citizen of any country other than the United States."[3] The Brookhaven National Laboratory, under direction from the U.S. Department of Energy, further explains that, from the perspective of the United States, a foreign national is, "A person who was born outside the jurisdiction of the United States, is a citizen of a foreign country, and has not become a naturalized U.S. citizen under U.S. law. This includes Legal Permanent Residents (also known as Permanent Resident Aliens)."[4] This definition presumably also applies to anyone who has successfully renounced his or her U.S. citizenship.
The term "foreign national" came into usage when the previously used term "foreigner" developed negative connotations. They are synonyms.