Originally Posted by slo0079

Currently the following items are giving us the biggest headache:

- The company says not to bring family until after they get their visa
- It will take 2-3 week for me to get the visa
- It will take 3-4 weeks for family to get visa
- That's 2 months (per company provided time tables) away from family; and wife has to do everything on her own...
- I'm not allowed to leave during 3-month probation period.
- So no Christmas with kids...
- Wife is supposed to pack everything in the end on her own...
- Wife has to sell cars...
- Wife has to arrange transport to airport, etc.
- Result: wife will be furious for weeks after, not a good recipe
- By the time kids get visa, it's end January.
- Qatar schools refuse to accept kids from Feb onwards. High risk
- Also none of the schools I contacted committed to a spaces for my 2 kids. They just want to charge for assessments...
- We have a dog
- Dogs are not allowed in the 3-month temporary company provided accommodation
- Only solution is to leave dog with a relative 2k km away - who never had a dog.
- The cost of this - plus getting the dog later - is 3-4k
- The role is on a 3-year contract
- Initially, it was indefinite. But 2nd offer onwards was not
- Feels like a huge amount of work and hassle for a temporary stint (although I doubt we'd stay longer)
* Apostilles
- One hurdle for us is that we didn't study or get married or have kids in our current country of residence
- Using 3rd party services seems the way to go to get all documents apostilled
- Costs are way more than the company T&C allow for, about 1k more
** Costs to move
- Appears to be 9k to move stuff, 2-3k in documents, 3-4k for dog, 5k in losses on selling family cars too early (one is 2 yrs old and other is 6 months), 1k to dispose of stuff we cannot take and return rental in decent condition, <1k for health testing, etc.
- Company only allows one bill within 4 months, so I need to absorb all the above from savings... until all the costs are in and I can submit them together.
- What if the new manager doesn't like me? A colleague moved to Qatar and gave up within 3 months because he hated his boss... He's single and portable. I'm obviously not.
- Since my costs are higher than the allowances, first 3-4 months in Qatar will be essentially to break-even. Not very attractive.
- I expected, from my prior research, everything would be covered. I now think this is only the case if someone moves with their existing company...

I decided to visit Doha for a week on my own account. See if it's worth the expense, risk and hassle. I'm meeting with 2 people I worked with in the past who've been there years. Both have small kids, though not school age like mine.

Originally Posted by slo0079

Currently the following items are giving us the biggest headache:

- The company says not to bring family until after they get their visa
- It will take 2-3 week for me to get the visa
- It will take 3-4 weeks for family to get visa
- That's 2 months (per company provided time tables) away from family; and wife has to do everything on her own...
- I'm not allowed to leave during 3-month probation period.
- So no Christmas with kids...
- Wife is supposed to pack everything in the end on her own...
- Wife has to sell cars...
- Wife has to arrange transport to airport, etc.
- Result: wife will be furious for weeks after, not a good recipe
- By the time kids get visa, it's end January.
- Qatar schools refuse to accept kids from Feb onwards. High risk
- Also none of the schools I contacted committed to a spaces for my 2 kids. They just want to charge for assessments...
- We have a dog
- Dogs are not allowed in the 3-month temporary company provided accommodation
- Only solution is to leave dog with a relative 2k km away - who never had a dog.
- The cost of this - plus getting the dog later - is 3-4k
- The role is on a 3-year contract
- Initially, it was indefinite. But 2nd offer onwards was not
- Feels like a huge amount of work and hassle for a temporary stint (although I doubt we'd stay longer)
* Apostilles
- One hurdle for us is that we didn't study or get married or have kids in our current country of residence
- Using 3rd party services seems the way to go to get all documents apostilled
- Costs are way more than the company T&C allow for, about 1k more
** Costs to move
- Appears to be 9k to move stuff, 2-3k in documents, 3-4k for dog, 5k in losses on selling family cars too early (one is 2 yrs old and other is 6 months), 1k to dispose of stuff we cannot take and return rental in decent condition, <1k for health testing, etc.
- Company only allows one bill within 4 months, so I need to absorb all the above from savings... until all the costs are in and I can submit them together.
- What if the new manager doesn't like me? A colleague moved to Qatar and gave up within 3 months because he hated his boss... He's single and portable. I'm obviously not.
- Since my costs are higher than the allowances, first 3-4 months in Qatar will be essentially to break-even. Not very attractive.
- I expected, from my prior research, everything would be covered. I now think this is only the case if someone moves with their existing company...

I decided to visit Doha for a week on my own account. See if it's worth the expense, risk and hassle. I'm meeting with 2 people I worked with in the past who've been there years. Both have small kids, though not school age like mine.

Originally Posted by Scamp

Don't come.

It's not for you.

Originally Posted by DXBtoDOH

OP, when you visit Qatar, always remember that Doha is a very thin veneer of modernity along the waterfront, taking in West Bay, the Pearl and Souq Waqif. It may look shiny and even impressive in late October. In reality, 95% of Doha is dusty, dreary, and ugly, including where most of the family compounds are. Even in places like West Bay, when you look a bit closer, it's shabby and badly built. Get a rental car and drive around widely to get a real sense of the country and ask yourself if it's what you want for you and your family, shutting between your office to a compound on the city's outskirts and the various far-flung shopping malls. You won't go to the beach as often as you might think, as there's preciously few public beach options. Or it will be too hot. Or dusty. So you'll spend most of your free time in the same malls and at overpriced brunches with other bored families.

The money better be worth it. Qatar isn't an adventure, it's a grind.

Originally Posted by slo0079

LOL! I've lived in 6 countries in 3 continents. The concerns above are genuine.

Originally Posted by Scamp

Yet you're worried about your wife getting to the airport?

Originally Posted by slo0079

On our last move, I sent the wife first with the kids and finished packing the house on my own. They only needed to take hand luggage effectively. Easy.

I can't do that here because QP doesn't let me leave Qatar within the probation period. I also can't leave the stuff packed for them because they come months later. So she needs to look after 2 young kids -- and pack the house. Also we are on the west coast, so 4 hrs away from the airport.

I see it as an adventure, a project, etc. People fly to space, right? This is easy.

But for some, this is like moving to a prison. "Hang me now!"

I'm trying to make it easier for them.

Originally Posted by slo0079

On our last move, I sent the wife first with the kids and finished packing the house on my own. They only needed to take hand luggage effectively. Easy.

I can't do that here because QP doesn't let me leave Qatar within the probation period. I also can't leave the stuff packed for them because they come months later. So she needs to look after 2 young kids -- and pack the house. Also we are on the west coast, so 4 hrs away from the airport.

I see it as an adventure, a project, etc. People fly to space, right? This is easy.

But for some, this is like moving to a prison. "Hang me now!"

I'm trying to make it easier for them.

Originally Posted by DXBtoDOH

Qatar is not an endearing place. The money needs to be very, very good to make it worthwhile, and for the OP it sounds like it may not be.

Originally Posted by slo0079

It appears expat experience in the Middle East doesn't provide an obvious advantage in the market back home. What's your experience?

Originally Posted by Millhouse

the longer you stay the more burnt your CV is.

mine looks like a piece of toast cooked by a junkie.

Originally Posted by Scamp

Hold my beer.

I've worked, properly, for 14 years. 10 of those in the UAE.

Originally Posted by slo0079

On our last move, I sent the wife first with the kids and finished packing the house on my own. They only needed to take hand luggage effectively. Easy.

I can't do that here because QP doesn't let me leave Qatar within the probation period. I also can't leave the stuff packed for them because they come months later. So she needs to look after 2 young kids -- and pack the house.

Originally Posted by slo0079

Dubai or Doha, any preference?