French Family will arrive. A lot of questions!

dgf

Thank you all for all your advices and commnents, I'll be soon with some more......

Wish to be there for real soon.

God bless

Ijaz

Hey! there, I didn't meant to say it that way!!!

I'm just clarifying how things work in Middle East in my observation!!! But still they are one of the most generous people as we all agree! yes? In other country we don't have any of this benefits do we? Cheer up!!!

Have a nice day!!!

Do unto others, what you want to do unto you!!!

These fairy is a symbol of light!!!

I like the way you comment. Thanks and I wish I could also have such a great nationality and company once in my life time :)

Have a nice day,

Ijaz

Wrong my friend!!!

A good company will provide his family status staff a 100% Education Allowance for the kids + 100% non expenses and fully furnished 4 bedrooms accommodation + round tickets for the whole family + medicals.

Base on your nationality and the company agreements!!!

Do unto others, what you want to do unto you!!!

These fairy is a symbol of light!!!

Hi Jenny!

We wish you to be here soon with your kids and husband. My advice is ask your husband to confirm about the package company is offering him. Coming to doha is not difficult but finding good accommodation in a reasonable price is the toughest job. Also schools are not so cheaper.

Your husband can bring you and kids once his RP is done and that takes maximum of 4~6 weeks. May be company has put restriction on this that he should complete his probationary period for the safe side.

A good company should provide family status, atleast 75% education allowance, and atleast 50% of the residense allowance. Otherwise things will become troublesome.

Wish you all good luck!

Ijaz

First of all, I can't understand why your husband's sponsor didn't bring you and your kids with your husband when he first come down here. Our case, Me my husband and our 2 kids arrives here in Doha together last August 27 and his sponsor pays for all our visas.

My husband was offered a job at Qatar University and they didn't say anything about this 3 months probation before he can bring his family over.

Secondly, they may have told you not to bring your furniture over as they do provide a fully furnished house accommodation for their Staff, your husband should inquire about that if that's the reason why they are telling you not to bring any furnitures.

Thirdly, your questions about license, make sure you have International driving license with you before leaving your country to be able to drive around Doha as soon as you arrive.

I think your license has no problem they will change it. Only Asian people has difficulties to change licenses here in Doha.

But be careful! you may find that driving is quite tough in Doha as they have lots of roundabouts here.

Fourthly, regarding your kids, depends if your husband company offers a school fee for your childrens as they often do!!!!

And

Spoerry please speak English!!!

Do unto others, what you want to do unto you!!!

might help. One of my friends has it in his car and it seems to work pretty well. Its true though that streets close without warning.

I have been here about a year and it took me a good three months to be confident I knew where I was going. There is no street references and addresses here like there is in the US. You have to learn landmarks and the names of roundabouts.

You can easily get a cellphone with a prepaid service without a residents permit. You will neeed to take your passport though.

Thrift stores here may be a step too far. They do have them but they hold little if any charm.

It's not the best idea to get a GPS to go around the city, as they close roads and divert roads every couple of days (due to construction).

I have no idea if there are any goodwill or salvation army stores, but many large stores go very low on prices during sale season.

You can get a regular phone with a prepaid sim card here, no need for a contract actually!

Cheers!

Good morning

I was wondering if for a so small country ( regarding to USA ), we can find GPS or rental car with some?

I loved shopping in thrift store in France or Usa ( Goodwill, Salvation Army ) any idea if I can find some in Doha?

I'll arrive with my 3 children, next thursday,is it easy to get a cell phone ? May be without my resident permit I will just be allowed to buy like a Tracfone, without contract, any help ?

Thanks again

I think you must do in person. You may even have a branch of the post office near your house. Tell your husband to ask around. That way you only have to go to the main one if you get a package.

It's me again,

What's the way to open a Po boxes at the Doha post office? Can I do it online from France or does my husband have to do it in Doha?

Thanks!

Send me your email and I will send you the "Mums the Word" newsletter with lots of mom information like coffee mornings and playgroups.

Best wishes.

Al Gharaffa is a nice area kind of in the center. My husband actually wants to move us over there because it's so easy to access so many places. Easy to get to City Center mall (with a Carrefour)and downtown as well as the new Carrefour at Villagio via back-roads and less traffic. I think you will like it there.

My husband is in Doha now,I'll come soon for vacation because we don't have yet our residence visa. The company already gave him the house,we will leave in al gharaffa, does someone live there, is it far from Carrefour and the center of town?

I hope I could meet some people then.

See you soon

I'll be back, I got to cook some french fries for dinner.

"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"

Gal. 4:16

Make sure you get the place sorted before you come here. French school is really fully booked now. My french speaking friend being told not too bother even putting her kids into the waiting list.

DESS have long waiting list too. They put priority for British passport holder.

Park House just moving to bigger premises ... they might be able to take more kids.

American and Canadian kids normally go to ASD (American School of Doha) that again have loooong waiting list.

Doha Independent School (DIS) .... some people like it some people don't. No idea why.

Newly open school : Newton and Compass. I heard one of them is sponsored by Shell for expat kids coming to Qatar in the future (they company plan to relocate huge amount of people to Doha).

your third query is the sweetest....you will see how easy it is to get the license once u are here.....dont worry about it.

the company asked u not to get the furniture...bcos they are giving furnished accom?????????

he can drive his bike here.but dont know the detials of getting the bike here.

dont worry about schools..lots of schools to suit you......

not sure about the rp thing.....dont want to give u misleading information.

shoot with the next set of questions....maybe i can answer them better.

Hi - I don't know about 3 month waiting time to come here. My husband had us over here in 6 weeks. I know that THE american school has a bit of a waiting list but there are othe english speaking schools. You should also check out www.expatwoman.com for lots of other information from moms here in Doha.

1st there is visit visa for 15 days u can extend it other 15 days then u have to leave ( people go to Bahrian and then come back it is issue of 2 hours)

2nd i don't think there is problem with customs but my be they will provide u with resdince with furniture

3rd silly question there is no condition or test for arabic language in driving license test

4th there are more than one american school and french school in Doha

Bonjour,

Vivre longtemps sur des visas touristiques n'est pas un problème (j'ai rencontré qqn qui a été sur ce type de visas pendant les 7 dernières années, non stop) : en revanche je ne sais pas s'il est aisé ensuite de passer à un Visa de résident ... Là est la question !!

Pour les autres questions, je suis mal placé pour répondre, et j'espère que d'autres personnes sur QatarLiving se chargeront de répondre à vos questions.

Christophe