Thanks adey for the comments.

Thats a good thing that once the processing is done by employer, employee does not have to run after the qatar embassy in home country to get it stamped on his passport. However 3-4 months is surprisingly long as the web site says its 24 hours.

There is no start date mentioned on contract, however there is an end date. Its a finite contract until 30 april 2009 (less than 2 years).

Regards