Acomodation and wages

G'day,

I too am considering moving to Qatar.  I was wondering about two things:  life in Qatar for my family (wife and 9 year old son), and of course, Canadian taxes (or how to avoid them)!

Do I need to worry given the issues in the region?  How are Westerners treated (not Westerners as the Prairies, but North Americans)?  Does my wife need to worry about harassment, can she get a job (retail manager with MBA), how do the schools' availability and quality rate? 

I know there are other areas that ask this question---but I am looking for the Canadian perspective.

Thanks.  By the way, Toronto just got another twelve inches of snow...

Tracer.

Well,,,where do you work...lol...

Well,,,where do you work...lol...

Albertaman,

No, actually the agents speed it up. Maybe you have the wrong agent though :P

Oh God, I sure hope you are not one of our latest recruits! :-/

when im not in kazakhstan I live in Wetaskiwin. Not a bad little town. Looking forward to what qatar has to offer. Boy the agents can sure be slow with the paperwork...lol..

Albertaman

What part of Alberta are you from?? I'm from the Red Deer area...

If Albertaman is working for one of the major contractors his salary will probably have to be paid into an established company (normally in base country) and will subsequently be taxed (as a Canadian very heavily).

There was a way round this with a local company (for a nominal charge) but the person running the company has left Qatar.

Yes, Albertaman, as a matter of fact, there is a McD here - on the top floor of the Ritz. Great view. Can well all join you for dinner there???

:P

Lol...is there a MC D's there.....

"I hope that once I have the signed offer in my hands that once I make it to doha, we can somehow get together."

Yeah, but now that we know how much money you make, we're gonna stick you with the dinner bill. ;-)

2500Qr a day plus housing & Transport... where did I go wrong....

Wow,,,,I am very thankful for all the wonderful responses that I have received in just the last 24 hours. I have accepted the package and am dealing with the agents at the moment to assure that all the small details are in order. As for some comments, Yes I am in the oil business as an HSE Engineer. The current project here in Kazakhstan is coming to turnover stages, thus we are all looking for the next offer. And I Love my beer,,,as I have found out, the accomodation is already lined up,thankfully, and I hope that once I have the signed offer in my hands that once I make it to doha, we can somehow get together. Any other comments are appreciated and welcomed.

All the best,

Albertaman

It is a good offer. Check whether your salary will be taxed though, and if yes - ask your agent (I presume you have one) or your employer how much of the tax they are willing to shoulder. Usually it would be a certain percentage. QR 2500 a day is fairly decent for Doha, so unless it's way lower than your usual package I think you should accept. Life here is not all that expensive, and if the accommodation is provided or you have a generous accommodation allowance you should be OK.

Hello,

Greetings Albertan!

I think it's an excellent offer. Basically you will bank about $16000CDN per month because everything is paid. PLUS no taxes!!!Also, if you get modest transportation you will be able to save quite a bit of the car allowance too.

oh and you may be able to up the housing allowance.

What are you waiting for?!?!

Welcome to Qatar!

Bon Chance (I think that's good luck :)

Is there any way I can share a 4-bedroom villa located in a clean western compound? The ideal villa should be brand new and clean, and I am willing to pay a maximum of QR 4,000 for a clean room (fully furnished) in a nice villa.

i found a 6 bedroom villa with it's own pool for 20,000 so they are out there but sometimes not in compounds

My last trip in I was looking at villas. New three bedroom in a compound 13000 unfirnished... 15000 furnished. One compound included utilities and one didn't. But I don't imagine utilities will be too bad.

Stand alone villas.... there are a few available. Tend to be a minimum of 4 bedrooms, usually more. Run at least 18000, but no pool. Gonna have to pay over 20 for that.

I grabbed one at 15 plus utilities. My realtor said the new compounds coming on line in September were going to start at 18 furnished I think.

And since you are from Alberta, your wage may just keep you in beer.

Actually the housing allowance is higher than market rates at the moment. US$3500 for married status is quite common here with single status a few hundred dollars less.

I agree with GIASA on the day rates, $600 per day is very very common. He may even be a bit low on the housing allowance as QR20,00 a month wouldn't be unusual

This rate is only for contract hire staff. The salary is paid on a day rate basis and includes everything (medical, tickets, leave, end of service benefits, schooling etc etc). These are rates for oil and gas projects and hence expire after the project completion. If you are employed by the client (oil or gas operator) on a direct hire basis (ie.. sponsored by them) you usually are hired on an indefinite contract (better for stability) you may find your salary less than half of this rate.

If you read the posters profile youll see he is in kazakhistan now. He may have been there for a couple of years. If he moves to qatar it will be for much the same duration. He will not know where hes going after that.

The instability plus the high pressure work of a project environment means that pay is correspondingly high.

again 2500QR per day....is this normal for oil & gas sector in doha....i will go for applying a job there...engineer or technical manager

And if this guy is from Alberta, he's in the oil and gas industry. Unless he's in beef (doubtful) or ski resorts (equally doubtful).

Either way Albertaman, your going to be litterally rolling in it. Don't worry and accept the job.

It may come as a shock to some people, but US$500-US$1000 PER DAY plus US$3000-US$4000 per month housing is not unusual for contract hire employees in the oil and gas industry.

Are for real, buddy or are on drugs. What kind of a job is it?

2500 QR per day? I think you're deluded and need to see a psychiatrist.