Can I promote my product or service here?
The rules state that self promotion is not allowed, so any post built around your product or service will be removed and repeat violations can get you permanently banned.
Subreddit guides
r/expat rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/expat: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.
Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.
Current public stats
- Members
- 89,701
- Verified
- October 5, 2026
- Category
- Cultural Q&A and regional perspective communities
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- Civil Behavior, Respect, Profanity: Posts must be respectful and may not contain profanity, uncivil language, personal attacks.
- No Spam/SelfPromotion/ Off Topic Subjects: No unrelated posts or general spam. Also includes off topic posts. Posts must be in English, with proper grammar.
- Politics/Violence/Circle Jerking: No political content or debates. No anti country bashing comments. No inciting violence. No circle jerking re: above topics
- Discrimination: No discrimination or comments based on race, sex, age, religion, etc. This includes racial comments, language or undertones.
- Immigrant vs Expat Arguments: This has been debated to death and is not the focus of this sub.
- Low Effort Post: Your post/comment must be descriptive and detailed to get good responses/feedback. A short open ended question, particularly if not relevant to this sub will be removed, as will responses that are not detailed. Proper English is required with appropriate grammar, language and punctuation.
- Repeat Violations: Repeat violations of any rule will result in a permanent ban.
- Factually Incorrect, Hyperbolic or Sensationalism: Posts that contain factually wrong information or blanket statements such as Europe sucks or USA sucks, etc will be removed. You are free to express your opinions but if your posts contain exaggerated, sensationalized comments without evidence and experiences, it will be removed.
- No Crossposting: Engagement in our subreddit is moderated, hence it is not allowed to crosspost with other subreddits where we cannot moderate with our own rules.
- Wrong Sub: If your post does not match the content of our community and matches a different one instead. For example r/IWantOut r/AmeriExit, etc. Simple posts along the lines of "I want to leave ..." do not fit the content of this sub.
Works well
- A long first hand story about your first year living in a new country, with specific mistakes and what you learned
- A detailed breakdown of one practical challenge you solved abroad, like setting up daily life in a new city, told from your own experience
- A thoughtful comment answering someone's detailed question about life abroad, using your real experience and naming nothing you sell
- A balanced comparison of two places you have actually lived, written with evidence and no country bashing
- A detailed writeup of a lesson you learned the hard way as a foreigner, with enough context that others can act on it
Avoid
- Posting any link or pitch for your own product, since self promotion is banned outright
- Dropping a short question like how do I move abroad with no detail, which gets removed as low effort
- Sneaking in politics or country bashing inside an otherwise useful story
- Crossposting your thread from another subreddit, which is not allowed here
- Asking whether people are expats or immigrants, a debate the rules say is settled and off topic
- Posting a simple I want to leave my country request that belongs in r/IWantOut instead
What r/expat Is For
This community is for expats and people looking to live abroad. People share stories about their new home, news relevant to expatriation, and support each other as a world community. The rules make clear it is about the lived experience of being abroad, not about debating whether to leave your home country, because simple posts along the lines of I want to leave belong in other subreddits. Posts must be in English with proper grammar, and everything from politics to discrimination to the immigrant versus expat debate is off the table.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The rule that decides everything for a founder here is “No Spam/SelfPromotion/ Off Topic Subjects”, because it bans self promotion and anything unrelated to living abroad. “Low Effort Post” is the next gate, since your post must be descriptive and detailed with proper English, grammar, and punctuation, and short open ended questions get removed. “Factually Incorrect, Hyperbolic or Sensationalism” matters if you want to share an opinion, because exaggerated takes without evidence and experiences will be removed. “No Crossposting” stops you from pulling threads in from other subreddits. “Wrong Sub” removes simple posts along the lines of I want to leave, which belong elsewhere. Finally, “Repeat Violations” means a permanent ban if you keep breaking rules, so one mistake is already one too many for a marketer.
What To Post
A good post here is a detailed, first hand story about living abroad, written in proper English with real specifics. If you are a founder, the honest play is to share your own expatriation experience in depth, like what surprised you about settling in a new country, what you got wrong, and what you learned, with no product mentioned at all. Answer other people's detailed questions with equally detailed comments drawn from your real experience. If you ever mention your work, keep it incidental and let the story carry the value, because the rules remove self promotion outright. Write long enough that someone could act on your post, since low effort posts are removed.
What To Avoid
The fastest way out is “No Spam/SelfPromotion/ Off Topic Subjects”, which bans spam, self promotion, and unrelated posts. “Politics/Violence/Circle Jerking” removes political content, debates, anti country bashing, and incitement. “Discrimination” bans comments based on race, sex, age, religion, and more, including undertones. “Immigrant vs Expat Arguments” is settled, so do not reopen it. “Low Effort Post” removes short, vague, or badly written posts and comments. “Factually Incorrect, Hyperbolic or Sensationalism” removes blanket statements like a country sucks or exaggerated claims without evidence. “No Crossposting” bans crossposts from other subreddits, and “Wrong Sub” removes simple I want to leave posts that fit communities like r/IWantOut better. “Repeat Violations” turns any pattern of rule breaking into a permanent ban.
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Common questions about r/expat
Can I crosspost my thread from another subreddit?
Rule 9 says crossposting is not allowed because the moderators cannot apply their own rules to other subreddits, so write a fresh post in your own words instead.
Is this the right place to ask how to move out of my country?
Rule 10 says simple posts along the lines of I want to leave belong in communities like r/IWantOut, and this sub is for people already living abroad or sharing real experiences of it.
How detailed does my post need to be?
Rule 6 requires descriptive and detailed posts with proper English, grammar, and punctuation, so vague or short open ended questions get removed.
Can I talk about politics or complain about a country?
Rule 3 bans political content and debates, and rule 4 bans discrimination based on race, sex, age, religion, and more, so keep your story neutral on both.
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