Living in Qatar?

[SMT Member]

Have been asked to consider a management position, based in DOH, but not working for QR! Monthly salary will be around QAR 28000, with another QAR 18K for housing, 10K for schooling of two kids, 5K for a car and 1K for utilities.

On top of that, the wife will also be offered a part-time job in the company as my PA, earning around QAR 10K a month.

Now Qatar is not, not even by a long shot, anywhere near the list of places I desire to live. Rather the opposite, actually. Therefore, unless this is a deal that will enable us to save up a substantial amount over a period of 2-3 years, while living very comfortably, I'll give this offer a miss.

Question is, will this make for a comfortable living for a family of 4, including 2 kids of 10 and 15, and offer the opportunity of building a nest egg?

[Saratogapp]

Qatar is not a bad place to live, at all. Very sociable people with not a lot of poverty but expensive rents and although a Muslim country, there are very few radicals. Good provision for education and lovely, low taxes. Be prepared for stinking hot summers though.

[gr84u]

Be open minded and give it a go :)

[Airmann]

Define "Very Comfortable"

[Strangeways Southpaw]

Good luck finding school places.

6 months in country before you can sponsor your family and get their RP's. Kids cannot get a school place without an RP, whilst many schools have been relaxed about this the SEC are now clamping down hard and some schools have been ejecting pupils without RP's.

Even if you get over the 6 month hurdle there is a waiting list of 2 years+ for places at the decent expat schools.

In addition the SEC has recently introduced a rule whereby kids can only enter or change schools at the start of the school year and you'll have to be very lucky to find places.

Even worse, if you happen to be Indian you can forget about bringing your family (no matter what your income is), very recently the government has put a block on family visas for Indians (I'm guessing other nationalities too).

In essence Qatar wants to develop and to do that it needs an ever increasing expat workforce. What they are not so keen on is what has been referred to as 'incidental population increase'.
I.E. families.

[Oceanic815Pilot]

Is the schooling allowance monthly?

The 18k will get you a comfortable villa or flat but rents are rising. The utility allowance should pay your electric, water and your internet. The car allowance is sufficient also in my opinion. Take what you have left and decide for yourself if you can save money from the remainder of your pay.

I don't mind Doha but then I get to leave fairly often. I preferred living in China as far as culture and daily life go. The school my children attend here is better than the international school in China.

Your mileage will vary depending on what your expectations are.

[airwjo]

Housing allowance is enough, if it is per month, you will get a nice villa in a compound, but rents are out of control

If the school allowance is yearly, u will end up with almost no savings, good schools are very expensive and most wanted, so there is a loooooooong waiting list, the rest of the schools are horrible, very poor standard and disorganized.

Utility allowance and transportation is enough.

Qatar is a third world country, pretending to be the best of the best, which is in reality the contrary. A lot of constructions going on, very dusty, traffic hell, law enforcement almost not existing and depending on their mood

General living costs very high, even though they say it's all tax free restaurants very expensive, clothing and rest of your needs very expensive (never saw such an expensive ikea)

Cars cheap, petrol very cheap.

Generally prizes are increasing rapidly the last years and they will continue to increase, as there is no official control

Good luck with your decision

All the best :ok:

[WASALOADIE]

Qatar is not a bad place to live. Your salary seems to be fairly reasonable and will suffice and you should be able to live well and save.

However - Beware! They can turn off your contract at the slightest whim and leave you without pay and debts to pay. You will also need an exit visa and if your sponsor chooses not to give you one then it can get very precarious! You will be the sponsor for your wife and family so they will not have a problem leaving.

Just do some research first, look at the problems some of the expats are having or have had. I was one who suffered and had to wait 3 months for an exit visa and they owe me $30000+ with no chance of getting this money. Some consider extreme ways to "escape" the country without a visa.

Nice big salaries, promises of luxury living (not maybe what you consider luxury). More or less everything in Qatar is a facade. If you decide to move there, my advice is to save as much as you can and send it home regularly.

All I'll say to finish is: Money isn't everything!

[SMT Member]

Thanks for the feedback all, much appreciated. Indeed the allowances listed are all on a monthly basis, otherwise it would be impossible.

Since I will be the local director of the company, granting myself an exit visa should not be much of a problem. Part of the deal is also that my wife will be hired as a part-time admin assistant. She's not the type contend with minding kids, home and garden. She's got a very good head, and if it's not used properly she'll go mental. I guess that should solve the 'minimum 6 months before you can sponsor a family' issue. I mean, a mother is allowed to bring her kids, right?

One major concern is schooling. We are, perhaps foolishly, telling ourselves this would be an excellent chance for the kids to get out of the bubble they live in now, and see what other places, cultures and habits are like. If nothing else, they'll come back with an excellent command of a very useful 2nd language (English, not Arabic, in case you wondered). However, if a decent school is right next to Unobtanium in the periodic table, then that's a definite deal breaker. Any recommendations for good schools?

I'm off late February/early March, planning to stay for a couple of weeks and see if the shoe fits, so to speak.

[SMT Member]

However - Beware! They can turn off your contract at the slightest whim and leave you without pay and debts to pay. You will also need an exit visa and if your sponsor chooses not to give you one then it can get very precarious!

Thank you for the warning. I've stuck a sticky note on the computer screen, reminding myself (I'm 'they') not to be an arse about granting myself an exit visa.

[WASALOADIE]

you will still need a sponsor for residency, they will be ultimately responsible for issuing a visa. However as you are the "boss" you could get them to authorise a multi-exit visa in which case you can keep it up your sleeve in case you need to make a hasty exit

[gr84u]

Sephore! I think you have to learn to READ.

[Outatowner]

SMT, would you share some details? I would also like to move to Qatar. Not for the money, I am not mercenary. I would like to move there for the sheer joy of living amongst such polite, humble native people with such good mature sense of restraint and responsibility.

I enjoy interacting with people who have good manners and grace and so Qatar is the place for me and this is more important to me than any amount of money.

If I can live with peole who demonstrate good courteous sense of decency on the road in their tinted 4WDs, this is enough in life for me; who needs money??

It would do me more honour than money could allow for to step back in a bank (or other) queue and let my gracious host surge ahead of me as I know it's only fair.

If I can get this job, I will work for nothing which is more than I could ever expect from my hosts.

[RoyHudd]

HaHa! Working for nothing sure is great. Especially for such splendid hosts.

[Oceanic815Pilot]

SMT,

The American school is quite good and your allowance would cover most of the expenses. It is one of the most expensive. Most schools are running waiting lists now. At least at the American School older kids have a bit of an easier time getting in. If English isn't their first language and of lower standard they may have trouble with the admissions. ACS was our backup and quite a few of our neighbors like the British schools.

[777AV8R]

If your education allowance is 18K for the year...best to have a look at the ASD website...It is really expensive and your allowance won't pay for it....

American School of Doha (http://www.asd.edu.qa) >tuition>fees

Hope it helps

[the Shue]

SMT,

Doha is not a place for kids, full stop.

I've lived in the UAE for many years and my kids had a great time there with many activities. In Doha, I live by myself while my family is back in our home country. An interesting statistic; out of 10 families in my department with school aged children, 6 of the families choose to have the wife and kids live in their home country.

There is little/nothing to do in Doha, your kids will be bored stiff unless they love playing X-Box all day.

IMO, unless you need the job you're offered (legitimate concern) I would pass on this one.

[SMT Member]

777AV8R

Thanks for the link; tuition truly is eye watering expensive, particularly when you hail from a place where all tuition, up to and including university, is free of charge.

the Shue

Thank you for the warning, which we've taken onboard. Thing is, I will not be working for an airline, and thus all except 2 trips per year will be on own expense with no chance of cheap ID tickets. Given that, and the demands of the job, an arrangement whereby wife and kids stays at home, could result in us only seeing each other 2-4 times a year. And that, if anything, is a surefire way to ruin a relationship.

I don't need the job, the only attraction is the chance of building a nice nest egg over a 3 year period, then retreat to civilization and use it to fund the downpayment on a home.

[Gulfstreamaviator]

There are good points raised above in regard to spouses and kids living on site in ME.

Some take to it, some hate it.

Unless you are very lucky, do not expet to make your fortune and go home rich.

Just my little input.

Glf

[RV6]

I think that the cost of living here with a family will reduce the possibility of saving a substantial amount. Your housing allowance will cover rental of a reasonable villa, but education and activities for the kids will eat into your potential savings. Transport will be an issue - if your wife is working, then you will need a driver service to get the kids to and from school and ferry them around for after-school activities. There is little to no safe public transport here - I wouldn't recommend taxis for the kids or wife, too many scary tales.
You might like to come here for the experience, but don't count on saving a heap of money.
If you can handle the separation, you could come here on your own, pocket the housing allowance and live in a much cheaper apartment etc - then you could probably save money, but at what cost in quality of life?

[SMT Member]

Thanks to all who's taken the time to contribute their thoughts, much appreciated.

Fact is that I'm living in a country that I love, where all my friends and family are, and with a good job that holds promises of a great future. And whilst the job in Doha would accelerate the career by a couple of years, I am in no way inclined to jeopardize the family in order to get there. That means I'm not willing to live there alone - the family must join or the deal is bust.

As such I've drafted a set of demands, such as bi-annual trips home and private healthcare, as well as a salary package around EUR 15000 net per month all in. If the company decides that's too much, fair enough, I'll just decline the offer.

[CDRW]

SMT - alas your set of demands will be read, by a recruiters assistant most likely and your application will be met with the delete button.

From what you describe - why on earth would you even think about this part of the world - and not just QR but the other outfits that operate in this region.

[goldwing2006]

SMT,what ever you do go in with an open mind! If you have never lived anywhere other then the UK then it will take time for adjustments especially for your wife and kids! Qatar certainly isn't the worse place to live and you're not going to be there for ever. If your set of demands are not met then just move on however if they want you badly enough,I'm sure they will bend over backwards to accomodate you.
Good luck in your decision however I would test the water well before taking the plunge.:ok:

[SMT Member]

SMT - alas your set of demands will be read, by a recruiters assistant most likely and your application will be met with the delete button.

From what you describe - why on earth would you even think about this part of the world - and not just QR but the other outfits that operate in this region.

1. There is no recruiters assistant involved, or even a recruiter, and I'm not applying for anything. I'm already working for the company, have been asked to consider taking over Doha.

2. One word: Money.

SMT,what ever you do go in with an open mind! If you have never lived anywhere other then the UK then it will take time for adjustments especially for your wife and kids! Qatar certainly isn't the worse place to live and you're not going to be there for ever. If your set of demands are not met then just move on however if they want you badly enough,I'm sure they will bend over backwards to accomodate you.
Good luck in your decision however I would test the water well before taking the plunge.

Actually, I've never lived in the UK :)
I've lived in 5 countries so far, two of them in the ME for a period of 1 year. Apart from that, I've been in the area on average around 4 times a year for the last 10 years. My minds pretty open, not least to the fact I'm doing this for the money, not for the opportunity of staying indoors for 6 months of the year.

With you on the demands; it's the company asking me to take on the job, not the other way round. The price is always higher when someone asks to buy something off you, rather than you putting the same something up for sale.

I'll be in Doha pretty soon for a couple of weeks, and if I still like it then the company insists I bring wife along on a subsequent trip. Only then will we make a joint decision on whether to accept the offer, if the offer is good enough that is.