sailqatar

I am a female physician working in North America. I have a single contract job offer from Hamad. I am married and have kids. According to Hamad HR once in Qatar I have to apply for my kids and spouse for their residency permit and once its approved only then I will get a family contract with all the benefits (return air ticket for family, Kids tuition assistance, family housing etc.) Is this normal for Hamad?

Johnnyboy11

Welcome!

I'd strongly recommend you get a written job offer of a family contract before coming out here, which explicitly details all allowances and entitlements. Your job offer might reference the HMC standard employment T&Cs which will explain the entitlement to allowances etc. so make sure you check this out. Even so, best to get the main allowances explicitly stated in your job offer and subsequently locked into your employment contract.

You may have to wait until after you have your RP before you sign your employment contract, which can be a month or so. When you reach that point, check the details in your employment contract exactly match your job offer, before you sign. By this point, you will probably have spoken with your new colleagues in HMC and have a better understanding of how the allowance systems actually work in practice, and things to watch out for.

It is standard practice in Government institutions out here to require the family to have their RP before any allowances are paid to you, for obvious reasons. But once the RPs are in place the family can come and go as they please as long as they are in Qatar at least once every 6 months to keep their RP active.

You will likely be on an initial three-month probation period and be aware that employers out here have no compunction about hiring and firing, for no good reason. Schooling for your kids will be a problem, both availability and quality, so best start enquiring now. Traffic is a nightmare and getting worse, so best look for accommodation near both school and HMC. Al Wabb, Al Saad or Al Rayyan areas might suit.

A lot of expats come out alone to settle into work, complete the probation period, find suitable accommodation, sort out the RPs etc. before bringing the family. As an American, you'll need to resit your driving test, unless you can find someone with influence in the Ministry of Interior... Public transport is poor, but plenty of taxis and private drivers which are very cheap.

Hope this helps.

[J]

NewOrleans

Great information!!!! Thank you. Especially about the RP. I will be coming first and living alone until my husband joins me.

sailqatar

Thanks Johnnyboy11 for the detailed response. Its very helpful.

primularossa

It is normal. It was the same for us in Qatar foundation.
good luck and apply for schools before deciding moving!!

sailqatar

primularossa thanks for the reply. The reason I am a bit confused about the HMC offer is that I have a physician friend who has recently signed a contract with Sidra and they were offered family contract and I know Sidra comes under Qatar Foundation. The whole situation is so confusing.

primularossa

I don't know What Sidra does. My husband is employed in Qatar Foundation and the procedure was: come here, get your residence permit, then apply for the family. Benefits for the family start when the family gets the permit, included schools, housing, tickets and so on. Well no, they paid the fligh tickets for the family and at that stage we (me and our daughter) had obtained the family visa for entering the country but not the residence permit (you have to do ii here) but my husband could ask for remboursement of the flight only after we had the residence permit. the process was indeed quite quick and at the end we staied apart 2 months. It can be worse, I have heard.
The real problem is schooling. check the other posts on schooling here and in expatwoman forum.

sailqatar

primularossa did your husband get a single or family contract that he signed before accepting the job offer? In my case all the T&C on the offer letter that I have to sign are for single person.

primularossa

He told me that he signed a contract where most of the allowances for dependents (the family) were specified. Some others were not specified, e.g. insurance coverage, but he knew from other colleagues that it would have been granted for all the family. Anyway we could ask for reimbursements of family expenses (school, travels - a lot of money that we had to anticipate) only after having obtained the RP. Also housing, we could apply for a bigger house (that we did not obtain yet) only after the RP was obtained.

Do you know other people that work in Hamad Hospital to whom you may ask what happened after having signed a contract for a single person?

i_Man

Hi All.

Grateful for some advise...

I've just had my visa come through for a position at HMC. I've since resigned and negotiated my notice period with current employers and informed HMC that I can travel early August. However, they have given me no joining instructions and are saying its too early to send the tickets?!?

Is this normal and when do they usually send the tickets?

primularossa

It is normal.....