From UK to Doha
Hi expats,
Yep heres another one from blitey who has been offered a job in Doha. Before I accept my offer in the next few days I need your advice to the following:
1) I have read much about how high rental is in Doha. My employer has said that I can get a 4 bedroom villa in Doha for 8k QR pcm. Is this correct? What would should I expect to pay for a 2 bed apartment in a decent location?
2) what is the nice part of Doha to live in? I am not interested in living in an expat filled compound - for safety reasons. Thus non-compound locations are what Im interested in.
3) Whats all this talk about exit visas?
4) what is the price of food and petrol like in Doha? If you dont know, then diesel here has hit £1.10 at shell stations! What a joke!
5) Does tax free mean exactly that? No hidden taxes are there?
6) Any cricket being played in DOha?
7) Are the yank troops going to leave Doha in the near future?
Cheers
Answers:
If your employer is filling you up with that sh*t reconsider - As a lawyer you should expect an income around 40.000 - 100.000 including housing, car, school etc. Anything without is not a serious offer
1) I have read much about how high rental is in Doha. My employer has said that I can get a 4 bedroom villa in Doha for 8k QR pcm. Is this correct? What would should I expect to pay for a 2 bed apartment in a decent location?
10.000 Rials per month for a nice place - but I would personally not even consider a place like that - the standard of housing is really poor here - but since you are British you might be used to it :o)
2) what is the nice part of Doha to live in? I am not interested in living in an expat filled compound - for safety reasons. Thus non-compound locations are what Im interested in.
Why not an ex pat filled compound - they are the safest!!! But ok I can see on your profile that you have some personal issues you need to deal with!
3) Whats all this talk about exit visas?
Your sponsor - aka your employer can give you an exit visa so you can go and leave as you like. If you don't have it - they will say bye bye suc*er in the airport in immigration - and then you are stuck here
4) what is the price of food and petrol like in Doha? If you dont know, then diesel here has hit £1.10 at shell stations! What a joke!
Petrol is 1/10th of the UK price
Food depending on what you like is reasonable priced - unless you want expensive stuff imported from UK
It's dirt cheap to go out for dinner
5) Does tax free mean exactly that? No hidden taxes are there?
Well there is some VAT on certain things - but there is NO income tax what so ever
6) Any cricket being played in DOha?
Yes - and they are about to built a 30.000 seater stadium
But it's more the blue collars playing it in the parks or wherever there is a space for it
7) Are the yank troops going to leave Doha in the near future?
No and thank god (Inshallah) for that - otherwise this place would have been Saudi 2 - now in Technicolors
Cheers
- I took the blue pill and found myself alive in Qatar - wish I had taken the red and stayed in Europe
2) accommodation is scarce, best to live near work so as to avoid traffic.
3)Exit visa - it is at the discretion of your employer to issue you with an exit visa, without one you can not leave the country.
4) 12p a litre
5) only tax is sales tax on restaurant meals i think.
6)Some, but no proper cricket stadium/pitch
7) No
I don't go to mythical places with strange men.
-- Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.
On another thread here a 4 bed villa is 22K, which is about right.
I don't go to mythical places with strange men.
-- Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.
8K???? BS I think
You can't teach experience...