Is 35,000 QAR /month worth the move?

Sounds reasonable. You should be able to save a fair amount , since your kids are still very young..

---

lol, they are getting tricksier than the little hobbitses.

deep didnt know that it was bot..lol

FS, Are you talking to the advertisement bot ? :P

Use classifeds before you get banned!!

Nicely presented information in this post, I prefer to read this kind of stuff. The quality of content is fine and the conclusion is good. Thanks for the post.

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.

Keloid Treatment

These are one of the few posts that I actually care to comment on. I find this blogger an inspiration and is definitely worth following. I've became a subscriber too, so please keep me updated.

Nursing Bras

I would appreciate if you could suggest your readers to check out VedoMedia. We have seo experts, internet marketing gurus, and super affiliates on our team and we know how to get your business and site some traffic.

Ephedra

Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.

Cheresa Ng MD

It is nearly a year since Mike made his last post, I wonder if he actually ever arrived. Hi Mike r u here or in canada, your post was like the butterfly's wings causing a tornado of replies.

I would say Mike is another one, busy learning his manners from a book. He never gave sign of life, not even a thank you note. Do we have to care...?

Great effort to get the entire Qatar all together

It is good but please calculate the kids education expenses.

hi all,

can anyone please tell me the scope for dentists in qatar....do i hv to clear any exam

I think that the best reply was by Moudir which broke down everything by detail and i agree with him except with the housing part, since i've been looking for a decent villa and i havent found anything below 16k so you will probably end up with zero savings. I ve been here for 8 months and i'm making a bit more than that with half of schooling and insurance is paid for and my savings so far have been a credit card balance of 30k qar and beleive me i am not a big spender but money seems to disappear from my hands. i think 35K will be enough to go by and anyhting more will be saving.

I always tell the truth, even when I lie

(a) housing in the GCC including Doha is rising as we speak - get your employer to commit to a certain standard and that they will pick up the tab - 3 bedroom villa at least 2 baths and furnishings OR a furniture allowance of at least QAR30,000 in a new build (things deteriorate rapidly in 40C+ conditions - the employer is responsible for this housing NOT YOU.

(b) annual tickets (or cash in lieu) home (to your point of origin in Canada) for married couples plus up to 3 dependents (children), standard for this area in your income bracket

(c) medical covered for everyone again, standard

(d) education allowanace (typically QAR25000 per annum per child up to 3 children) this may be negotiable either upwards or downwards

You may be willing to compromise on any or all of these points - but these are the areas where you need to consider if it is worth it to you to come here.

35 K for some people might be ok, and might not be enough for some other..it is totally upto your standards, Well I think I sound Ok if they are willing to increase,if you don't have other options go for it, just take into consideration that inflation here is around 8-9% Check your options then think twice & good luck

Have a nice time all the time !

ME

Hi , i have been informed for the site interview from QP and so for no reply from them. Usually how long they will take to arrange for visa for site interview. I have sent my pp copies to them. Pls kindly reply

Below are some tips for you, but you do the math please. For high class living you should be costing your employer 55000+/year for: salary, provided furnished villa living with maintenance, transportation (provided car with fuel +maintenance), health care for the entire family, schooling for kids, 1 trip back home for family.

Proposed Income: 35000 total all inclusive.

Minus expenditures,

Housing: 12000 to 15000/m for a 3 to 4 BR villa

Part time maid for house cleaning: 500/m

Soft furnishings: cutlery, pillows,kitchen counter tops: 5000/one shot deal.

Utilities, internet,phone, water, electricity: 1000+/m

Car,petrol,insurance 3% of value, maintenance: 2500 to 3000/m depends if sedan or 4x4.

Driver for wife in lieu of a 2nd car: 500/m

Groceries, credit card, outings: 4000 to 5000+/m depending on your lifestyle.

Trip back home: 20000 to 25000/airfare for (4), depending on kids' age, boils down to 2000/m.

Medecine insurance, dental, etc. for family: to be evaluated.

Health care, lab tests at hospital: covered for residents.

Schooling for kids: anywhere between 3000 to 6000/m depending on age and school.

Worse case scenario: you would be saving 5000 QAR/m or 1500 CAD/m approx.

You still have to spend money on your holiday in Canada or elswhere? : budget it according to your lifestyle.

Think before deciding. Good luck.

Thats like 4 times more than what I have been offered. I also have a bachelor and masters degree from university of toronto canada. then why am I stuck on 10K

dude if i was offered 35K I would ask them when should i come from canada to Qatar. you might be making good money in canada but you do know about the taxes in canada.

think of a saving of 4-5K Canadien dollars per month.

By the way if you are not planning to accept the offer just recommend them my resume. (just kidding)

Dont give it a second thought accept the offer.

You can dig the site around with the 'search' button on the left hand side to look the information about housing and other stuffs.

Good luck.

How's life in Qatar? Hope you like it. Need your help to tell me a little bit about living in Qatar. I'm from Malaysia and just recently received offer letter from ras gas.

Hi Rosman,

Are you here now? Good to hear from you. I hope you like your new job.

Does this include your housing allowance? Or is housing comped for you?

either you are overstating the heat in Qatar or under estimating the heat of hell

I'm sure you wouldn't want to try the heat of hell

Hi Mike,

the package as a number is a good number considering it is a tax free salary. but when u come to reality it is a combined package and it has some draw backs especially since u have children that will be attending daycare/school.

mu suggestion is to get a basic salary of 30-35 k plus accomodation+car(or car allowance of at least 2500QR to get a descent car)+schooling+roundtrip tickets for u and ur families to place of origin.a piece of advice get everything in writing before making any steps.

the above is the ideal offer to leave Canada, as u have to bear in mind the heat factor around here which believe me is like walking in Hell.best of luck!!

by the way i am from Vancouver, BC where are u from?

deleted

deleted

IMHO QR35k/month is low. As other posts have said take out housing (budget around QR20k/month for a western compound, fully furnished), cost of utilities and kids education and you'll probably be earning less than currently. Although it'll be tax free, at that salary there's minimal incentive to leave a career, etc.

A word of advice - get your employer to arrange the housing. It can be very expensive and problematic to break a lease which is in your name.

You can negotiate your offer to get more. Either have company pay for your kids, increase ur salary or having relocating expenses (not less than 40K). a decent compound villa is around 15K.

Just remember that medical here is NOT like Canada, and all private & government medical institutions are the same - they suck :)

I fr Malaysia, am waiting for final offer fr QP but the rental cost has made me to think twice whether to accept or not (QR7k-8k/month)- workplace in Ras Laffan and plan to stay at Al Khor, if not Doha. I would like to know the trend of apartment rental (2-3 bedroom) in early 2007, whether there is any reduction. Hope you all can email me to [email protected], thanks.

Thats like six times more than i make and i am surviving here, barely.....but still you can live six times better than me!! except i will have to live with the thought that my college degree was a waste of time!

If you are offered this position by Qatar Petroleum, please note that since last month they stopped compensating Canadian for the well established American School of Doha. This is due to availability of a newly established cheaper school in Doha.

I too am from Canada, Lacombe in fact! I've been living in Doha for a year now. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me @ [email protected]

Take care,

Charlene

appreciate the response....hope my wife and two boys won't be disappointed...just want to make sure they are well provided for..:)

yes, its good enough. Search the site with the "search link", and you will find all the info you need and more about living costs in Doha.

Am offered a grade 13 at 13000QR +8400 housing allowanc+1000 transport+50 per day location+free schooling for kids+return tickets yearly for self and family

How?

Go for it?

or NOT?

I work in the construction industry and Doha defiantly sounds like there is a little growth going on. With growth there are always growing pains...this is happening in my home of Calgary as well. In fact the main reason I would be moving to Doha is to slow things down a bit. I live a pretty rewarding life here but I am working up to 80 hour work weeks which leaves very little time for family and friends.

I will see how much money I can squeeze out of this company. I would like more of a housing allowance but I am a little hesitant in having them find/provide the actual house. I guess I am a bit picky that way.

My understanding is that once the games are over there should be an improvement in the housing situation; I have also heard that there is a new hospital being built with campus housing for the hospital staff and that once this is complete there will be plenty of free accommodations.

Although only been here a short period of time, there are many items that are inexpensive however, it is not as cheap as first led to believe. For the experience I would say go for it, depending on the reason you wish to come to Doha, Qatar. It is definitely a different world. I would definitely tie in your accommodation as part of your package as the demand is becoming greater for accommodation of a reasonable standard. With the Asian games and the development going on in the area, supply and demand principle is very evident - subsequently prices are rising fast. You definitely have to make your own connections once you get here as there is not a lot to do unless you join various clubs and love shopping, going for coffe and cake. Keep in mind once you arrive, things move very slowly and getting such things as residency visa which is essential in order to draw up and finalise any type of contract is a tedious task. One thing you learn here is patience and tolerance.

Unfortunately at this stage you can not purchase property in Qatar, except in the new Palm Tree development (not yet completed) and I believe in the upmarket West Bay area. I may be wrong, but this is my understanding.

The rents until recently (last 2 years) were much more reasonably priced. But unfortunately Qatar is going through quite a boom, the landlords and real estate "agents" have got very greedy and just upped all the rents. The government has tried to pull the reigns on this, but it's not working. As a result rents have skyrocketed and possibly this can still keep happening ... as I said, the Government are aware and hopefully something more concrete might happen and it will all slow down. Or, as a lot of us are hoping, after the Asian Games it will all settle.

On my understanding of you reply, your company is not going to provide return airfare tickets once a year to your point of origin. This will be something for you to factor in. Airfares here are quite expensive. For example Australia is our home, and we pay between 5300-6000 riyals a ticket (adult).

Although your 35K sounds good, once schooling, accommodation, air tickets, utilities are taken out you will be on a fairly average western expat wage. I would try, if possible to get more on the understanding Qatar is booming, and inflation is high.

If you want to come for the experience of living in another country and are due for a change, you will certainly comfortably survive on the money they are offering.

Laelee: the travel they provide is the one-way expenses of moving my family and I there.

Thanks for the advice on the schooling. I will defiantly look into it further.

Everyone talks about rental accommodations; what about purchasing a villa or a house? Is this a far fetched goal? I have never been much of a renter and it seems the rent there is quite high. Are the rental prices justifiable due to housing costs or is it simple supply and demand due to the large migrant/short term population?

Cheers

Don't forget to take in to account schooling costs for your 4 year old as they will be of school age here. Also, schooling availability is very tight at the moment, and you may have to go on a waiting list.

When you say "travel" I presume you all get a return paid airfare ticket to your point of origin? This should be made clear on your contract.

Petrol here is very cheap ... and cars are reasonably priced too.

Your package is a fair amount and you can get some nice accommodation that won't chew too much in to your budget ... between 12-15k a month should get you a nice place. YOu can check out the local newspaper "Gulf Time" and have a look in their classified section for current accommodation available and their prices.

It's a bit chaotic here at the moment due to the Asian Games being held in December. But after that things should start calming down .... inshallah :-)

Good luck

Grab it, apart from housing, other expenses are minor and there is lot of competitions/offers, hence you have the choice.It's you how you control your budget.

If you find your expenses are more in future, you can always move, since you are a qualified professional.

Welcome to Doha, we are waiting ...

Cool

Geepee

It's a good salary - if u budget QR15k for a nice villa then your other expenses aren't that bad. Plus it is all tax free

And there is free state health care for your family if they are resident here