housing allowance, job opportunities for me, etc etc... so many questions! :-)
Hey there,
My boyfriend is being offered a contracting job in Qatar. He'd be working for the military, but as a civilian. I've been encouraging him to ask questions about all sorts of things, from how much he'll get paid to what we'd have to go through for me to live there with him. I know there are legal issues around my living with him if we're not married, so we're looking into what we should do about that... for this forum topic, I'm more interested in the monitery and job-related questions I've got....
So, my guy said that as far as housing goes, he should be receiving $4000 US a month to cover a place to live. That sounds like a pretty great amount to me, but I was wondering- does that really translate into very much over there? What kind of place could we expect to get for that amount of money?
Also, I'll probably want to get a car when I get over there- I don't need anything new, just something decent. How much might I be looking to spend?
And, I'm hoping to have a job of some sort when I get over there. By the time I get over there, I will have my Master's degree in marriage and family therapy. From what I understand, there's not much of a social services community in Qatar in the country itself or on the military bases. One person did suggest that I "hang out a shingle" when I get over there and have my own little practice. That is a very tempting idea for me- my biggest concern on that is the laws surrounding it. Are there laws in Qatar that would make doing something like that illegal? Any advice I can get on this is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
~Lacey
Wow! Now there's a job description that fits me just about to a T :-) This particular one won't work for me, since I won't be over there til next February (won't graduate until January)... but it is great to know that there are definitely jobs over there that would fit me well :-)
How did you find that position? I'd definitely appreciate tips on how to find other jobs like this :-)
Thanks a ton!
~Lacey
Yeah, moving out there as an unmarried woman is a concern for me. I don't really know or understand what is involved in finding a sponsor- what does that mean? My boyfriend thinks his company can get me a visa out there- maybe they're somehow able to sponsor me? I have lots of questions just on that stuff.
Thank you for the info on cars, as well! I'm usually comfortable driving something small to medium-sized, depending on where I'm at. In my hometown I was okay with driving something bigger, like a truck, but here in Hawaii I am definitely more comfortable in a small car, because of the tiny parking spaces and the sometimes small and narrow roads.
What are the driving and road conditions over there?
~Lacey
Yeah, moving out there as an unmarried woman is a concern for me. I don't really know or understand what is involved in finding a sponsor- what does that mean? My boyfriend thinks his company can get me a visa out there- maybe they're somehow able to sponsor me? I have lots of questions just on that stuff.
Thank you for the info on cars, as well! I'm usually comfortable driving something small to medium-sized, depending on where I'm at. In my hometown I was okay with driving something bigger, like a truck, but here in Hawaii I am definitely more comfortable in a small car, because of the tiny parking spaces and the sometimes small and narrow roads.
What are the driving and road conditions over there?
~Lacey
Hmm, I'm not positive, but pretty sure that Al Udied would be the big main base over there, yep. Thank you very much for offering to look stuff up for me! People have been so nice and helpful on this website, it's really great :-)
Thank you for telling me the housing areas that would be closest to the base road- that is very helpful! I will see if I can look anything up on those from here, and let my boyfriend know to look at those, as well! How great to have those specifics :-)
~Lacey
[email protected]. Email me Lacey
I'm assuming Al Udied is the big, main base here that's on the way to Umm Said and the sand dunes? You can find the base on Google Earth and you can see the Pearl but you'd have to know what you were looking at. When I get a second I'll try to get on there and pinpoint it for you. I only know of one road out to the base and I would say it would probably take you at least 45 minutes from the West Bay area. Closest to the base road would be Alfardan #2, the Al Waab area, Al Aziziya area. Anything nearAspire and Khalifa stadium. There are really nice compounds here too, for renting.
Hmmm... I can't seem to find any prices quoted for buying in those areas- either on the sites you sent me or on the Pearl... they do look like Very nice places! Probably nicer than we can afford, but it seems like it'd be worth looking into, anyhow :-) Question- how far is the West Bay/Pearl area from Al Udied? And how far is Al Udied from Doha? That's the main city, right? I can find maps that show the locations of the main cities over there but not of the military bases- I think he'd end up working at that one, though I'm not positive.
Thanks!
~Lacey
Hi Lacey,
Yes, renting sucks but expats are only allowed to buy houses in the more upscale areas. The Pearl is a huge land-reclamation project that is going to have luxury homes/apts on it. It's not ready yet. I think the West Bay area, which is where The Pearl is, is the only other area that we can buy houses. Just for fun - if you want to see what a really nice compound looks like check out http://www.alfardanrealestate.com/gardens.htm and
http://www.alfardanrealestate.com/laguna.htm
:)
Aloha Khanz, how do I email you? I don't know your email address... sorry if I should know where to find that- I'm pretty new on here. Please let me know, and I'll email you! Thank you :-)
~Lacey
Aloha pwb78! Thank you very much for your post! I really appreciate the responses :-) We will definitely look at those classifieds that you mentioned. We're also thinking of looking at buying, possibly, though we'll definitely have to review the laws associated with that first, and all. I'm not sure if we could afford to buy or not... but I've always kind of been a big proponent of buying instead of renting when possible. It looks like there are some amazing places over there, the the Pearl... but I have no idea what it costs to live in neighborhoods like that.
Thank you very much for your feedback on how your American friend has his girlfriend living with him- it's good to know that she was able to renew her visa that easily! And hey, a good excuse to fly out to Bahrain, too :-) I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep renewing a visitor visa, but it sounds like they had very little difficulty with it.
I will contact the Qatar Embassy before too long- thanks for reminding me of that resource! I'd completely forgotten about going through an embassy... I bet that information will be invaluable for us :-)
Thanks again!
~Lacey
Hi,
Here's my two cents on your questions. :)
Housing - you should, financially, be able to find a nice place for the two of you with that much money. Availablity is another issue but I always see places in the classifieds. www.gulf-times.com or www.thepeninsulaqatar.com. If you find one that looks promising, ask us about the location.
Most compounds do have some sort of gym. Our compound has only 9 villas and we still have a very small gym. There are fitness clubs here and a brand new one (Sehati) just opened up for women only. It's a spa and gym. Also, Aspire Sports Academy also has women's only classes, very affordable.
http://www.aspire.qa/topics/index.asp?level=31&temp_id=332&temp_type=42&parent=323
And if you can't walk outside because it's smokin' hot, the malls are HUGE.
I have an American friend (male) who lived with his Malaysian girlfriend for many months and no one bothered them. She would fly out to Bahrain every so often when her visa needed to be renewed and had no problems. Apparently, there are flights to Bahrain just for this purpose. (You have to leave the country and then re-enter and get a new stamp.) I guess she was here on a tourist visa.
Before we moved here, we contacted the Qatar Embassy in D.C. The lady there was very friendly and sent us a huge packet with brochures, a CD-Rom on Qatar and the Marhaba (Welcome) book. This stuff will give you a very basic idea of living in Doha. Marhaba is good for the "who do I call" questions and stuff like setting up phone service, getting a driver's license, etc.
Best wishes
Hey guys,
I've lived here for a while, and with regards to the dress code, as Lisa said, u can whatever u want: sleeveless, short skirts, shorts, etc. noone is going to tell u anything. Most compounds do have a recreational center with a gym, pool, etc, and with the housing budget ur bf is given, I think ur able to live in a pretty good place.
It's true the culture is different, but don't get too freaked out about it cause it's not that bad, just a little more conserved i guess.
As for the language, everyone over here speaks english so it will not effect ur job opportunities whatsoever, so don't worry about that.
Hope that helped, if ur hesistant about anything else, feel free to ask...cheers xxx
You're welcome Lacey. Here are a few of the web sites that I have looked at
http://www.qatarembassy.net
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5437.htm
http://www.explore-qatar.com/
If you can find some books written on the culture that would help too.
As far as I know, most of the better compounds and apartment buildings do have inclusive gyms and pools. My husband is in a temporary apartment right now, which does not have anything, but hopefully will be moving soon.
I really don't know about the dress code inside of the compounds, but when I lived in Saudi we were free to wear whatever we wanted. Unfortunately, as soon as we stepped outside we had to wear the abaya and carry a head scarf just in case. From everything that I have read, on this site and others, you can dress as you want. Just no short skirts or shorts. Capris and I would think the burmuda shorts are fine, no low cut shirts, I don't know about the sleeveless part though. Wish I could give you more info, but I have not been able to make my first visit yet. I have a 14 year old here with me and that keeps me pretty busy. Everytime we try to plan a visit something comes up.
As for the laws. I don't really know if they are easier on Westerners or just a lot harder on someone without a Western passport. That just seems to be the consensus of some of the things that I have read here. I know life was easier for us in Saudi for the most part compared to other nationalities.
I spoke to my husband just a few minutes ago and he said that he thinks a tourist visa is good for one month. He wasn't really sure. That would be great if your husband's employer can help you in that department. Hmmmm, maybe he just needs to break down and make an honest woman of 'ya (just kidding).
I hope some of this helped. I see you are in Hawaii right now, I would give my right arm to be there. I am down in cajun country in Louisiana, where we bleed purple and gold for our LSU Tigers. If you have any othere questions you can reach me at this e-mail address [email protected]. I have been researching this sight for a little over a week now and there is a lot of helpful info.
Take caer and I wish you the best.
Lisa
Aloha Lisa1004 :-) Yep, you are right on your assumption that I am a westerner- I am from the US, currently living in Hawaii.
I've heard that it is against the law for us to live together in Qatar if we are unwed... I am not quite sure what we're going to do about that yet- definitely one of those issues that my boyfriend and I will have to figure out before I come out there! If all goes as planned, he'd be going out there in several months, and I'd join early next year.
Do the laws vary in application depending on if you're a westerner or not? That seems so interesting to me...I definitely need to learn more about the laws.
As far as the visa, according to my boyfriend his company will provide me with a longterm visa of some sort. I am not sure how they do this- I'll get more info on it, but I sure hope it actually does work that way!
I'm really glad to hear that there should be good housing options for that housing allowance :-) A bit off-topic, but as far as the housing compounds, do many of them have a gym of some sort? I'm interested in how I can work out once I move over there. I usually either go to the gym or go for jogs, but it sounds like it gets far too hot over there for me to jog many months out of the year. Also, with the stricter rules (or at least norms) on what women can wear in public, it sounds like I'll have to wear a lot more than my typical shorts and tank top to go for a run!
I definitely appreciate your advice to study up on the culture before I move out there. Do you have any ideas of where I should go to gain some good information on Qatar? I agree that I should do some reading before I go just to know what I'm getting into... I know that the culture there will be very different from here, and I'm excited for the experience of living in a different culture and learning from it :-) Thanks again!
~Lacey
Thank you for the response on the housing, Cavileer! I definitely appreciate knowing what we may be looking at. If we can find a decent 3-bedroom place out there, I think that would be pretty ideal :-) I'm not sure if the housing allowance covers the amenities- thank you for bring that up, that will be very important for us to look at.
I'm also glad to hear the ideas that go with being a family therapist! It's really good to hear that there is a market for these kinds of positions out there.
I am a westerner from the US, currently in Hawaii. I'm sad to say that the only language I speak fluently is English, and I know a bit of Spanish on the side. Will this make it much more difficult for me to find employment?
Thanks again for your response :-)
~Lacey
Hi Laceyfowler
It is aganist the law for an unwed couple to live together. The only way that you will be able to live in Qatar is if you have a residence visa which is provided by the employer. You can get a tourist vist but I am not sure how long you can stay in the country on that. Your best chances would be to see if your boyfriend's company could possible set you up with some type of position. I am 99.9% sure that the only way you can start a business in Qatar is to have a Qatari partner or be sponsored, not really sure how that works. Even though you are Westerners (I am assuming you are), even though the laws are a little easier, the living together thing probably wouldn't go over too well. I would definitely have your boyfriend talk to his employer about this, because this could affect his job, meaning you could be deported.
My husband is currently working in Qatar and I will probably be there at the end of the year. He purchased a new Hoda CRV fully loaded for around $26,000. You will also purchase your insurance when you purchase the car. I'm sorry I don't remember how much he paid for that.
The housing allowance should definitely get you a nice place to live. There is just a major housing cruch in Doha right now. There are new apartment buildings and compounds opening up so hopefully by the time he gets here, it shouldn't be a problem.
I am an American and I lived in Saudi Arabia for a long time. One of the things that helped me before I went there was studying up on the culture. While Qatar is quite a bit more liberal then Saudi, you may still be in for some culture shocks. If you do come, I recommend that you come with a positive attitude, remember you are not in Kansas anymore, and you are not going to change anything and just try to have fun. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn about new cultures (there are so many different ones there). Take care and good luck
4000 USD is approx 14.5K QR. For this you may be lucky and find a compound villa of 2-3 bedroom. For example I am in a reasonable size 3br compound villa (older villa) and it is around 14K QR. A friend of mine scored a 4 bedroom brand new stand alone villa for 15K QR. Im not sure if this is the exception now, others will be able to say if this is fairly normal or preety cheap, but this is my experience. I also know however that most stand alone villas we have looked at have been 4 bedroom for minimum 20K.
Is hubbie also getting the amenities covered, or an allowance for amenities? This is also preety important as the cost of water, electricity, international calls etc. can be preety steep.
Cars in Qatar are preety cheap compared to other parts of the world. Dont know about second hand car costs but the new car we are purchasing is is less than 2/3 the cost of the same in my home country, plus fuel is very cheap.
As far as being a family therapist goes and working, there are a number of possibilities.
First you could try some of the major hospitals and clinics and see if they have something available or can open a position for you.
You can also set up on your own with a Qatari Sponsor who will have to be partners in your business.
Im not sure about the laws of setting a lil something up on your own. I do know that alot of people do it but I dont know the legal ramifications behind it. I do know people who have done this for years without problem, but I think you probably need to look into it a little. Im sorry I cant be of much help in this department.
Goodluck to you and your partner