thanks for the info - esp on TV ! i was about to buy a puppy here before all this came up - so dont have a dog yet - so needed to check out whether easier to go ahead and get puppy now and get him over or to wait till i was there.

Really grateful for all the info - will keep in touch with this site and hopefully everything will go ahead and i will be in Qatar by March. Theres still bits and pieces to go through.

One ex colleague has advised me that you need permission from your empoloyer to leave the country - has anyone found this to be an issue or is it relatively straightforward ??

My husband would like to kick back for a while and take it easy but after a couple of months would like to work.

Thansk again