Moving to Doha
Hi All
I will be moving to Qatar in literally less than a week in a whirlwind relocation. I am used to moving around the world, but it is my first time to the middle east.
Obviously, I have a few questions. The most important things for me to sort out is what would be the best nursery for my daughter (2years old) "The Britsh montessori school" how is it? are their waiting lists?
I am looking for a nanny/housemaid I have seen lots of people from the Phillipines, but I would love to find one from Indonesia having lived there and my wife is from there as well. Are Indonesian common? having only seen fillipinos doing this type of work advertised here.
what type of social clubs, toddler groups are there around. I am going to be intially a house husband as my wife has been offered the work out here. I will be looking for work when I have my daughter in nursery and have a live in nanny. where can I go to meet parents and other expats?
I am keen to know about any martial arts schools in Doha, after three years in China I would love to continue 'Ba Gua Zhang' kung fu, but understand this is not such a global style. Are there any good 'Tai chi' teachers around.
what about renting a car? not so many posts about this as hesitant about buying until past probation period.
Many thanks,
Nick
I will move to Doha next week !!!
Does anyone knows how are the housing accomodations at Ras gas in Doha?
www.saka-qa.com
maybe you need a part time cleaner to your house every friday iam free...pls. email me [email protected]
Hello nickking...
Al- Bayan is a company whitch provides clearance services, it also offers service assistance with immigration and visa application procedures.
If you need more information you can go to albayanconsultant.webs.com
or call 66722892
Just to clarify; the DMBS does offer the Montessori method in the early years, i.e Nursery.
Going in there as a Consultant Educator, I can categorically say they still follow the Montessori method.
At the Foundation Stage they do follow the British Curriculum and then on till the iGcse's and then they offer the IB curriculum.
It is a good school and despite what has been said on here, the Principal is not racist.
You will need to check, but as far as I am aware you cannot hire a maid from your nationality.
Now if your wife is Indonesian and you are all on her sponsorship, she will be the primary sponsor of your maid, which means being Indonesian herself, she probably won't be able to hire an Indonesian maid.
Do you plan on being on her sponsorship permanently? Or getting your own if you get a job. It might be better if you took the maid on your own Visa if you are sponsored seperately.
Thank you for spending the time writing, I would be interested in meeting some other dads and will definately be out to some of your groups once I am there and more settled.
Good to know about the Montessori school!
Looking for lower impact martial arts at the moment not so good for the joints, but thanks for the offer.
again thanks for helping out strangers!!
My husband is 5th Dan Taekwondo and is also a kickboxer, so if you are interested in those forms then definitely get in touch with us.
It's tough for non-working dads, to be honest. I'm the Director of Doha Mums and I receive a decent number of requests for a "Doha Dads" :) That's probably not going to happen (at least not by me) but I can introduce you to the 2-3 dads whom I have kept up with and will be happy to post a message to the Doha Mums private forum to see if there are others in the same situation.
Doha Mums has a number of playgroups that are in public locales (e.g. parks, malls) and you are more than welcome to attend them with your daughter. Your wife will need to attend at some point so that she can join Doha Mums, but you're free to come to these "public space" events anytime.
The British Montessori school is not a Montessori school, in case it matters. Nothing wrong with it at all (that I know of), but if you are targeting DBMS because of the name alone then you might be disappointed.
Be sure to check out the Doha Mums website for both you and your wife, and select the "Need a mentor" option on our contact page if you have any questions.
http://www.dohamums.com
Good luck with the move!
The DMBS is a very good school. It has an excellent reputation especially at Nursery Level.
I don't know about maids as we bought ours with us.
There are lots of clubs here for people with young kids although I don't know how a house husband would fit in lol; you may become the Yummy Daddy lol
There are martial arts clubs here, never heard about the one you are used to.
Glad you are excited about coming here to Doha. It's not a bad place at all to live.
Hello,
I want to relocate my family, wife and four kids age limit 12-7 years. Hope to get nursery and high school for my children and to get work for my wife, teaching by profession, she has Msc in social studies in University of Ibadan, Nigeria. I am a profession banker in Nigeria work with one one the biggest bank. I believe accomadation is okay and transportation.
Thank you for taking the time to reply and help. useful advice.
thanks for your reply , not too worried about the visa will initially be on a visit visa while they sort out the RP for my wife and then for myself. As it is a family package.
Nick--
There are plenty of Indonesian maids in Qatar. Your HR department should be able to help you arrange to have a maid on your visa (the process is a little complicated and time consuming). When you are given leave to have a maid, it is usually for a specific nationality, so you can preference Indonesian then. The best way to locate a good maid is by word-of-mouth, but there are plenty of agencies than can help, too.
I have heard good things about the British montesorri school, but I would strongly encourage you to visit. Depending on where you will be living, Apple Tree and Starfish are both reputable nurseries (among others). Just phone them to see if they have places. Many of the international schools start at three years old, so if you daughter will turn three by the autumn, you should probably start exploring those, too, as spaces in good schools are rare. Qatar Living has a number of discussions on the merits of various schools.
Good luck with your move!
The visa is important, only certain occupations and income levels can sponsor trailing husbands for residency. You will need a residency permit to get a Qatar license - and that can take several weeks.
Not sure about maid nationalities here. I imagine you could contact an agency and go from there.
Hey Nick,
Good to see you guys are a
excited about the move... I was also excited 15 months ago.
I do not have alot of answers but renting a car is quite easy. You can drive it of 10 days upon arrival with your UK licence and after that you can convert it to an temporary licence.
What kind of visa will you be on? when my wife was working and i was taking care of the house i used and extended visitors visa but had to leave each every 2 months.
Good luck
dutch