mauser1905

hello Callum,

Welcome. Qatar is expensive, Al Khor may be cheaper alternative. What I found was mobile and data services are terribly expensive in Qatar. I have travelled to Kuwait last week and find the data services here are dirt cheap in comparison to Qatar.

Go for Ooredoo tv subscription and you are off by 200QR then further subscriptions for channels. Same with internet.

I am currently looking for work for myself, should you wish I can link you up with some recruiters I have personally met and are helpful. GCC is purely reference market. Just send PM.

Currently situation is grim in regards to lay offs, I am a victim myself and have come from silver city in the UK. The pain has now passed onto sectors such as medicine and nursing, hospitality in Qatar. Its a very deep wound in oil and gas and has taken toll on payscales for all other sectors. Perhaps I was told that in schools also plenty spaces available which in unusual for Qatar!

Good luck to both of us.
regards

Calum123

Hello Mauser,

Thats very kind I will take you up on that offer if you don't mind I will PM you. How long have you been out of work and seeking? How long have you been living in Qatar and how are you finding it overall?

Sorry to hear about your current situation hopefully you find something soon, what sector is your experience in?

In regards to the tv subscription I have already planned on bringing my amazon firestick with me, I can then scatter the IP address so it thinks I am viewing in the UK. This will provide me with all the catch up channels, netflix, sky & bt sports and more. If I was you I would seriously look into if you think your tv subscription is costing you a lot.

co durham boy

I would re check with your sponsorship requirements as well , as i currently understand there's ceiling through demographic / job title and salary on the ability for a wife to sponsor her husband.

Calum123

What do you mean? She is able to sponsor me because she is earning over 10,000 per month and working as a teacher....

co durham boy

What i understand is that the sponsor must be affiliated with the Governmental or semi Governmental entity i.e Qatar Airways / Qatar Foundation .

Whether you work as a butcher / baker candlestick maker is irrelevant as it's tied to sponsor / salary .

It would be worth just rechecking as rules are fluid and change regular in Qatar

Calum123

I have rechecked when you said and it is not the case.... The rules state that they must be working and earning over 10,000 pm. That's it. I'm sure the school wouldn't bring over 15 families all to then be rejected from the country

co durham boy

Yes they would as the rules change and know one knows until it happens. It's the Middle East and what is normal in Blighty doesn't apply here , especially in a place like Qatar where laws are defined totally for the national population.

A good bit of advice is go to Waterstones and get the Explorer book on Qatar , there's a host of information in there on specifics that will help you immensely .

amy77

It's VERY unlikely that Immigration will allow her sponsorship of you. All the other partners of teachers that I know in Qatar have to do visa runs every few weeks. You need to factor that into your costs.

It's a sexist thing, but women are only very, very rarely allowed to sponsor husbands and the exceptions are when they are working for someone with a lot of wasta, or have exceptionally high salaries. I know someone who lived out here since she was a kid with access to the 'right' people and a decent consultancy job who wasn't allowed to sponsor her husband.

It's not an issue, you will just have to do visa runs, but you need to account for the cost of them (my friend was a teacher and her husband used to get good deals on the BA flight to Bahrain every few weeks for his visa runs).

I think you will really struggle on one salary. And everyone I know (almost literally) has left Qatar recently due to job cuts, so it's going to be a struggle to get work for you.

We spend £100 a month or more on electricity, plus massive water bills and this is for a small townhouse. A big shop at Lulu never comes in at less than £200 these days. And you are going to be in Al Khor, so for nights out, or even days out, you are looking at a lot of time in taxis. It's not the best place to live, so you're either going to be doing all your socialising with fellow teachers, or driving into Doha an awful lot.

The government and local population are trying to squeeze as much money out of expats as possible at the moment to try and cover the deficit - they say there is no tax, but there blatantly is - it just takes a different form. Everything is getting more and more expensive.

I'm not one to put a downer on moving out here, but at the moment, in your particular circumstances, I wouldn't do it.

Calum123

Hello Amy,

I have just been in touch with our contacts at RasGas/Qatar Gas and Al Khor International School. They have reconfirmed that yes I can get sponsorship it is not from my wife but from the company they are going to sort it all out the first week that we arrive but it can take a month or two. In this time they take every spouse that needs to on a visa run bi-monthly (which is paid for by the company) so is not at our expense.

I understand you said you " spend £100 a month or more on electricity, plus massive water bills and this is for a small townhouse." As I have previously stated that our utilities bills are inclusive of her contract as they also provide us with accomodation.

Another point you make "I think you will really struggle on one salary." I understand that and surviving on one salary is only going to be an issue if I can't get a job after about 6 months of being there as we both have savings that can support us. I have also previously mentioned that the school can offer me a Teaching Assistant role that pays 6500 QAR PM if it comes down to me not being able to find work.

Obviously you have your opinion on Qatar at the moment and it is certainly and educated opinion as you are actually living there, I do appreciate your advice and words of warning but unless we try it ourselves we are never going to know what its actually like. Everyone we have spoken to from the school has painted a fantastic picture of the community they have at AKIS. We have even spoken to people of our own back that we have found VIA linkedin to get an unbiased view. Three of the Four people are enjoying it that much they are renewing their contracts and the other is only coming home because they are wanting to raise a family in the UK.

If you don't mind me asking what line of work are you and your spouse in and how did you go about finding your positions?

Thanks

Calum123

This is a message we have just received from our contact in the school who has just finished her first year at AKIS.... (Katie is my wife btw)

Hi Katie, We're all well. Don't worry. The rules keep changing here. Your hubby can come with you initially as a tourist (he'll pay 100qr as he arrives in Doha - school will refund this ) then as soon as your RP is complete they will arrange his sponsorship. It's really painless as the school will do all the work behind the scenes - but it can be time consuming. He won't be able to get a driving licence but if he gets an international driving licence from the post office that will be okay until he gets his licence. When you set up your bank account you can request an extra card in his name so he can access cash/pay for stuff etc. School pay for and arrange the bi-monthly visa runs until he has his RP. My hubby had to endure this until his was sorted but said it wasn't too bad. Hope this helps x

Calum123

Another message from one of our contacts....

Hi. Just eating dinner so will answer in full later and follow up when I can but basically, don't worry. 1. The rules/laws change all the time. 2. I assume the school knows they are employing a married woman so they have it under control. 3. I was just at the gym with Amy who is getting married next month, in UK and returning after the summer with her new husband. 4. My new TA in Sept is the husband of one of the new teachers (there are loads of examples of this within the school, women sponsoring their husbands). 5. Finally and most importantly, you will be working for one of Qatar's largest companies, that is owned by very important Qataris which helps.

I'll explain more later but don't worry... Oh and my husband is on my sponsorship too and we have been here 6 years. X

mission

i gotta give it to the OP (CALUM) despite those painting a doom and gloom picture, the OP has certainly done his home work and it sounds like him and his mrs have it on good authority about his sponsorship.

Calum123

Thankyou Mission

Johnnyboy11

Remember to factor pensions into your budget. I'd suggest investing a quarter of that 11.5k to cover you both, until you find work. In addition, also pay Class 2 or 3 National Insurance contributions to build up both of your UK State pension entitlements. Boring I know, but nobody will do this for you...

I also think you'll struggle on that package, unless you are both working. Qatar is a tough assignment, and not many Western expats last here for more than 2 - 3 years. Boredom will be a big factor, unless you are both working, especially in Al Khor.

Calum123

Thankyou for that sound advice Jonhyboy11 I hadn't even consider this until now so I will investigate further!

Again I have every intention of working as soon as I can find a job not only because it's become clear that my partners salary isn't going to be enough but I would hate the fact I would be living out of her pocket. hopefully we can find something to keep ourselves occupied on the weekends we are both into sport, so will be making the most of our free membership to AKIS community by joining some clubs