Moving from Dubai To Doha !!

i came to doha 6 months back to join my husband.the package was very good.thought wel save money.but ended up trading our life for money.no family time,no place to go to.we were happier when we were in dubai even if there wasnt much of savings..decided had to go back..now me and kids are in dubai..my husband will join us soon.one word of advice to anyone moving there.i had a very bad experience with a real estate..we took a a furnished flat in bin mahmoud and payed 1 years rent so that it was reduced.they conveniently forgot to tell us there was a court case goin on between the real estate and owner.even when the owners informed us ,the real estate said no problem nothing will happen.finally jus 2 days before the police came to seal the building they asked us to leave.we had no choice but to take a flat with the same real estate.around 300 families were forced to leave most of them at very short times notice from the 6 building complexi've been in dubai for my whole life except those 6 months in doha.it was the worst experience of my life.im very happy i left doha for dubai.

hi sayed what are the good places to go aroundin Doha? indoors and outdoors.

haveworking in doha but wish to change employer. i have been here 6 months. my present employer has offered a no objection letter. can i stay and transfer it to another

company?

Group - One small query - Do apartments come with a/c or do we have to buy them - in case the rent is around 8K per month, will thry be window a/c or split a/c ?

Thanks

Thanks a ton, Sayed. Your messages have been quite reassuring that if I take up this job, I won't have to suffer too much when I move to Doha.

Do we have to pay agent commission for renting an apartment ?

Are there landlords who advertise directly in the newspapers ?

Best regards

Usually companies provide 4 - 5 star hotels which are good for family. Doha is much better then Dubai in terms of family life (you will not find prostitutes on the streets everywhere in every place or in every hotel) there might be some but not open like Dubai.

Your wife can work and drive a car peacefully just like in Dubai. Traffice is very calm here compare to Dubai n Sharjah, No worried about Parking or Salik fee as of today (tomorrow God knows).

I think you can find 2 bedroom (unfurnished) within 7 - 9K pm but most of the buildings are old and flats are huge but some old bldgs are well maintained too ...

Furnished flats again depends on the landlord but most of the landlord has good quality furniture like home centre etc... thas y the rents for 2 bd for furnished starts from 12 - 15k pm.

I think withing 6 weeks you can find a good flat if you look out everyday.

Regards

Sayed Ali Zakir

Sayed & the QL group,

Thanks for your valuable inputs. I have a Corolla which is in a pretty good shape (only 30K kms done) and I have found out from agencies that it might cost 3-4K to ship to Doha and it reaches in max 4 days. So I plan to bring it down there - I don't plan to buy another car for atleast another 3-4 years :-)

All my funiture costed my about 20-22K when I bought them from Home centre and other places and they are exactly 1-year old. I have asked for quotes from a couple of shippers - lets see. Am keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

My company will pay for hotel / tickets for the first 6 weeks. Do you think I can get a place by then (from your experience) ? I see a lot of ads in Gulf Times - are these usually ready to occupy as they say 'New apartments' in the ad.

If I want to bring my family along with me when I land (so they can stay with me in the co-provided hotel room), is it OK, in terms of food / security etc? I am joining a leading financial institution - hope they will provide a decent hotel accommodation.

How big are the 1 / 2 bedrooms in Doha in terms of square feet. I live in Karama in Dubai in a fairly big 2-bedroom - about 1100-1200 sq. ft.

I see in this group where some say the rent of a 2-b/r flat is around 7-8K while some others say it starts from 10K and goes upto 15K. Is there so much of difference ? What is the rent for a 1-b/r in Doha - average based on your experience ?

For a f/f flat, what is given usually - are the things new or used ? Furniture standard - like IKEA / Home centre or the local market items ? Pls. clarify as this would help me greatly.

Thanks,

Sridharan

I recently moved from Dubai to Doha. following points to be noted pls:

1) You will get a temp driving lic of QR150/- within 2 working days valid for 2 months, once your residence permit is stamped in your pp you can convert the same to permanent by additiond of QR155/-.

Note residence visa take more then 4 weeks to get stamped in PP. since you are coming by end of Nov, Govt will be off for 10days for EID holidays in Dec, subject to announcement. So once you arrive in Doha 1st thing to grab the temp lic immediately so that you can drive smoothly. (QR 150/-, PP copy + 2 photos, application form and eye test report is required)

2)You have not mentioned which car and model, if you have 4x4 2005 - 2007 model then bring it to Doha since 4x4 are costly. Any small (slaoon) car need not to bring if you get good resale price in Dubai, Its headache to get clearance you have to run up and down in the custom.

3) Al Mansoura/ Najma are very good areas to live in Doha for Expats specially from India/ Pak... schools/ airport/ lulu centre etc.. are all very close by. You will need 2 bedroom flat for the size of your family. Furnished will cost you between 12000 - 15000 per month. Unfurnished will cost you between 10000 - 12000 depending on the size and facilities provided by the landlord.

4) I had my flat furnished by IKEA in Duabi the cost of transport was coming to around 9,000/- (cheap cargo company) if you go to professional companies the cost will be double. but i sold all my fur in Dubai due to reason that if you come to Doha you will not get flat immediately (if you get it you are lucky) and keeping the cargo for more then 3 days on the port you will have to pay penalty (no idea how much) therefore, i sold my fur and got a one bedroom furnished appt in Al Mansoura area for temp period only since i am waiting to complete my probation period then we will move into the flat of our choice.

5) Housemaid is not that easy to get as in Dubai but you will get after some search thru newspapers or thru contacts.

6) You have not mentioned if company is providing you tickets and hotel or not. If not then you can check the rates thru any travel agents. If flight n hotel provided by Co. then i think you should bring at least 20000QR in your pocket if coming with family otherwise 10000 will be enought for single person.

7)I have not seen any temple yet in Doha as you have in Bur Dubai, but i am sure there is no harm in brining such things. Better visit WWW.MOI.GOV.AE and you can send email to the Govt authorities they will reply to all your queries related to Govt. issues.

8) 30 - 32 is good package you can save 10000 - 12000 subject to your life stlye. Here they don't have much place to spend money. Food items are 15 - 20 % more then Dubai in the Hypermarkets/ groceries.

Otherwise Life is very peaceful specially i love the traffic here after experiencing HORROR TRAFFICE in Dubai and Sharjah. Doha is very quite place and there are few good outing points.

All above is as per my experience i have gone thru... price could be plus minus in your case.

Wish you all the best and welcome to Doha.

7)

Sayed Ali Zakir

Belive me you will make big mistake to shift here

i did same one month before

it is so boring and looks like poor country

no fun nothing

all the staff here more espensive than dubai and not good also

evry thing looks diffecult here comparing with dubai

if u come from India direct here it will be ok for you

but when u shift from dubai u will always compare and feel sorry that

you come to qatar

so think carefully,

yes may be you will save more here but in dubai u can enjoy your time

here you will loose your life for money only

Sarat,

1. Are expat women allowed to work in Doha ?

2. Are ladies allowed to drive cars ? How difficult is it to get a driving license for my wife in Qatar ? She does not have any prior driving license.

3. What are the school fees like in Qatar ? Which is a good Indian school in Doha. Am sure O-level schools will be in the higher bracket of say 1500 per month.

Thanks

No worries at all...

And regarding your question of Housing...I guess I could be able to put in a way the current situation of Doha in this way...while I totally agree to the fact that Dubai is also similar to Doha in terms of Rent...in Dubai there isn't much hope of finding a decent place, but here in Qatar for about 8K you should be able to find a decent place without a problem, but then again you might want to consider the option as to what Algren has mentioned about your company providing you housing, if that doesn't work out, don't worry you would be able to find yourself a nice place. There are a lot many new buildings on the up. So that shouldn't be a problem buddy.

And Regarding, I guess that's what I had enquired, you should be able to transfer that to a valid Qatar License once you are done with your Residence Permit of Qatar.

Cheers...

Let know of anything else required (in terms of Info)...LOL...Kidding buddy...Take care...!!!

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" Live Life To The Fullest ! Enjoy Yourself "

Sarat / Algren - Thanks for the inputs. Am able to put a perspective to the whole thing now. Although the rental market is high priced now, in Dubai, it's very difficult to find an apartment. Is it the same in Doha or are there decent apartments available but the rent is high. Pls. let me know your thoughts.

Sarat - I have a valid UAE driving license which is valid till 2013. I hope this is what you mean as a permanent license.

Algren - Did you move with your car / furniture etc ? How much did the moving cost for the car / cargo ? If it is not too much of intrusion, may I pls. ask if you found a place for you to live already and if yes, how much did it cost. I want to find out an approximate figure.

On the career side, I usually stary atleast for 3-4 years before I make the next move - it has helped me round up my career well. So, even if I move to Doha now, I won't consider a move for atleast another 4 years. Insha Allah, it should all go smoothly for now :-)

Thanks.

I moved here a month ago from dubai. Pls note the following.

1.Get ur company provide u an appartment. Rents in doha are really crazy..Much worse than dubai.

2. Cost of living is generally higher by 20 - 30% in doha. Phone calls, grocery, food etc. All these are generally costlier here. Petrol however is cheaper.

3. Doha is a very quite place compared to duabi. other than staying indoors..there is'nt much to do here. No amusement or beach parks for an outing in weekends.

4. Changing jobs is virtually impossible here.And if u are career oriented qatar wud'nt be a gud option.

all said..if u cud get the accomodation bit resolved for say 8k per month...u shud be able to save 15k every month.

Cheers.

Well chief, good to see you are making a change soon...hopefully for the best...

Find your answers as per the question numbers mentioned by you up...in your original post:

1) Regd. your driving license, if that was a permanent one then it shouldn't be a problem changing that to a Qatar one within about 1 week max, I guess just an eye test and then you get a Qatar one, provided you get your other legalities sorted out.

2)Well, buddy to be quite fair, there isn't an area as such you could live and your family can be engaged in walks or plays...for that you might want to check the option of living in a compound where there is a good amount of security and stuff like activities for your children and wife...the rents are explosive...else...pick a decent new 2BHK apartment and take your family to the Corniche for a walk and their play regularly in the evening...

3) I would suggest moving your good furniture from Dubai by Road Cargo to Doha, in that way you could surely look for an unfurnished flat costing you a bit cheaper than the furnished...

4)Well, that buddy is a bit tough, but then first you need to settle down into this place and the environment and then look out...

5)Costs moving to Doha, as in...costs are very much the same that as compared to Dubai...so put down your estimations...

6)Yep, never heard of that point being so strict here...it is just that you shouldn'tbe putting on display but other than that you would be able to move the pictures in the cargo...(again you might want to find out with the company doing your cargo)...

7) Pretty much fair call about your savings but just to be on the safer side of math...fix your target to 10K first and then move upwards as and when you get adjusted to this place...

Cheers...take care...happy moving...anything else let know...

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" Live Life To The Fullest ! Enjoy Yourself "