---
title: Designated countries, Expats, locals
slug: marco-concepts/country-expat-local
description: Find out what designated countries, Expats, and locals mean in Marco Platform.
docTags: 
createdAt: 2023-08-14T10:40:11.323Z
---

By default, all Marco users have one designated country. The designated country affects the user's payroll calculation, and payment currency.

If a staff is relocated overseas, managers have two options to administer the relocation in Marco:

1. Change the staff's designated country.
2. Set the staff as an Expat.

***

# Expats

In Marco, an Expat is a business expatriate employee who retains a host and home country distinction for contractual and payroll purposes. As such, Expats will have two designated countries in their Marco account.

If a Marco user is an Expat, the host/home country distinction will apply to their personal information, employment information, bank details, leave balance, and pay items. Meanwhile, the default weekend policy and public holidays for Expats will be based on their host country only, with no host/home country distinction.

![Marco Platform's user header for Expats.](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/WDABVsk65VXvmNuRENOjp/jW-b_RKCzP1xYAs6-A0Bs_x4staffheader.png "Marco user header")

Only the following users can be set as Expats:

- Staff Only
- Manager Only
- Manager & Staff

***

# Local or non-local

All Marco users will also have a local/non-local status for their designated countries:

- Local—employees that do not require a work visa.
- Non-local—employees that require a work visa.

The local/non-local status may affect payroll calculation for the employee. For example, if employer contributions are required for local employees only, the payroll calculation differ for local employees and non-local employees.