Should I move or not - Help deciding moving

Phew, long questions which i'll try to get back to later or i'm sure someone else will answer  but in money terms, i think the ME is going to be better cos of the tax factor alone. Most other apprehensions you have can be written off.

Most of my freinds in the UK, US , Canada and Europe (all working in IT) want to come to the middle east.

However, if you come after getting a passport from any country in the west, you get paid much more.     

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Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

I assume that you are ona US passport and a naturalised American.
US citizens I believe are taxed by the US government on their earnings in Qatar. Some companies provide housing, schooling etc, others don't. Whichever way you go, you would need to make sure that is catered for. If you are on a US passport, schooling should be provided in the American school. There is a waiting list I think.

2 Not as far as I know but see above.

3 No

4 No problem if you don't practice

5 We stayed 15 years and enjoyed it

6 Can't answer as not in Qatar

7 Bayte.com, Monster.com plus appropriate IT professional journal web sites (google it)

8 Don't expect anywhere near the same freedom

9 Not a ot of difference, it'spersonal choice and I don't think you will get a dependable answer.

10 It depends on the position and the company

No doubt if people think otherwise they will say so.

I think shopping here more expensive...than the US

expat = expatriate, living in a country not your own

if you make under like $86,000/year, you don't have to pay income tax but you must also live out of the US for much of the year

You won't save as much as you think over here. It's expensive.

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

even thou you think , you will get more money here and not paying tax here .....and everything being provide to you ....

but LIVING COST IS MORE EXPENSIVE ...........so consider that

Hi pwb78,

Say i get a job in my field there, salary US$65K/year, and also free housing, schooling, car allowences, and also i don't need to pay taxes, -- considering these above why i can not save much, what else is there, which I don't know? or need to consider? -- can you give me break down?

indorachel - I have same question to you too as above. thx NH

Hi,

Can some one give me a brake down of monthly expenses, say i get a job in my field there, salary US$65K/year, and also free housing, schooling, car allowences, and also i don't need to pay taxes, -- considering these factors above what are the other kin of monthly expenses and how much are those in average? please...thx NH

The allowences such as housing, schooling car etc. those do they give you or do they send those to school, or land lord? thx NH

Sorry, may be I was not able to explain right, I do googling all day long, I undderstand that part, what I meant is what to type? -- i can do that also...thx no hard feelings...

something like jobs, then IT, then Middle East.

That should get something up.

Many IT jobs are contract. My son has been on contract jobs for about 15 years now. He's now on an indefinite contract job with RBS at contract rates.

is not an option in Qatar and it's very hot in summer!

you are weird...
try to get the job first!!! and ask all these questions your prospective company.. what could be easier.. otherwise we are talking about NOTHING.."what if.."? "whats if..?".. and WHAT IF you cannot find a job at all??? talking about what?????
...and not all the company are the same! some pay for your house, some pay housing allowance, which is not enough even for one room...

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QS
Copyright©Mr.PAUL

Qatar can be a good place for you. But really, get a job first - I'd say it's impossible to come here on tourist visa for example and try to find a job here. Plus, it's really hard to change a job as your company will be your sponsor and some of them are willing to let you go if you'd be leaving the country. But it depends.

Then, discuss your salary - some companies give you money for housing, some provide you with a flat (and pay to the landlord), it's up to them. Some companies provide you with smaller allowance than is the price of a type of housing you want (anything from 8000 - 20 000 QAR). The same with schools. Food, clothing, restaurants definitely more expensive than US, so consider that too.

If you don't live in a good compound be ready that your kids wont't be able to play outside (hot, traffic).

There is also no health insurance usually included in the salary package.

I would suggest you secure a job before you coming to Doha. DO NOT come here and looking for a job ... most company wont pay you the relocation expenses if you do that.

The normal perks for expat (things that the company paid).

- Housing
- Flight to go home at least once a year
- Medical
- Schooling
- Transport allowance

As a woman who been living in Qatar for 7 yrs ... so far i like it here. Not as open as Far East or in the west, but i am more than happy can go out without have to cover up with abhaya.

There are also no convenience stores here, it's running about 100 degrees right now and will get much hotter. Being from America you will get a Fed Compensation package probably about 35% over your base pay. The driving/traffic is atrocious. You will have to pay taxes if you go over 86k or somewhere close to that. Women do not have to wear Burkas. You have to pay up front for medical expenses and then deal with your insurance company to reimburse you in the end. Doctor's visits run about the same amount here as in US and medications seem to be cheaper. Food prices are through the roof, we are paying $1000 a month for a family of three. In a nutshell, my husband makes over 90k and we have been here 10months and have not saved anything yet. But then, that's just us. When you make more money, you spend more money.

britexpat,

Hey thx for your answers. You are in IT, which side?
I did programming for 5 years in oracle platform, used dif. languages, did little bit dba, now about 3 years doing QA. How is QA field there, work env., sal etc. thx
again

It stays hot from now until October - November basically. They say last summer was not bad, but there was a day when the heat index was 131, it sucked the air right out of your chest when you walked outside. The days were regularly 110 or more. They expect it to be even hotter here this year. Summer is here now and won't be done until November - December.

My husband is the IT Site Admin for RAND in Education City. We are in a 3BR Villa in the Education City Community Housing Compound. It is nice, I'll give it that. All of our expenses are paid (rent,electric, phone - except international calls,a trip home once a year, water, and auto),but we still have to pay additional for our truck rental in order to have something we feel safe in - GMC Yukon. Like I said the driving here is atrocious. In fact from what I read auto accidents are the number one killer here. Something like 70k a year. Our allowances do not pay for schooling and when our 2 year old gets ready for that it will be quite expensive to enroll her anywhere. All schools are expensive. That's about all I can think of to tell you for right now.

"Something like 70k a year" - what is it, you said above.
I see you are from here - what makes you move there?
I lived in Phoenix for 9 years, I guess qatar is hotter than phx...and stays that longer than phx...thx

expat package is always good ..... depend how you manage it ...sure you can or can not save money here depend how you going to manage it ....so just like other ....get a job first and then you can decided whether you want it or not ..........

As for everyone saying that you should get the job here first and then ask questions, if I had found this website before we came over here, and I got to ask the questions you are, we would have made the decision not to come. There is not a lot of crime and when there is, it is not really reported about because of the media censorship. There are many historical places to visit, about half of the people we have met have been really nice, and being in the desert has it's own beauty. I guess it just depends on what is important to you as to if you make the choice to come here or not. All I am saying is as for us, this was the wrong decision for us to make, but we have to make the best of it because we are committed here for the next 2 to 3 years. I hope this has helped you a little bit.

1.you will never know what is Qatar about unless you come here to live and to work.
2.All these talks about "what if.." are useless. First find the job, then you can ask if it's a good offer or not. IT guys might earn from QR5000/month total package including everything (yeah! there ARE some!) up to QR 50,000+accommodation+car+schooling+medical+ + +... so it's useless to ask "what if..."?
3. I had my friend here before moving to Qatar. And I even came for vacation for 2 weeks here before looking for the job. And I had this opportunity to ask all these questions my friend, and see Qatar by my own eyes. BUT... when I came to Qatar to LIVE and to WORK here, it turned out to be completely different from all my created images.

but sure.. go ahead with your questions as soon as it entertains you and the audience...I consider it just as another blah-blah-blah thread...

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QS
Copyright©Mr.PAUL

I am a bit confused here. The guy is putting the cart before the horse. Surely he should at least line up a couple of jobs first before getting into the nitty gritty. No offence intended, but reminds me of "walter mitty"

Actually I have noticed we do get people wanting to have the whole situation mapped out for them, although there are several links to look into.

Qlers want to help but too much is too much, and it is impossible to see into private finances/spending - some save some don't that's life.

MikaylasMom, your figure of 70 000 traffic accident deaths per year is way off. In 2007, the figure was around 300.

I advise you to slay your demons and start to drive. It will open up a whole new world for you. Best of luck.

peace _______________________________________________

www.nfcr.org

Diamondgirl, you were right. I just checked my facts and it is 70,000 accidents annually and 300 deaths. Still my point was that driving here was dangerous, from what I read, traffic accidents are the leading cause of death here. I will bow out of this thread. Sorry for the incorrect information, I don't want to offend anyone. I know I will have to drive here someday, I am just not looking forward to that day. It scares me to death.

Hi,

Thank you all for all your help & time.

But I just have one thing to say...

I know I can get most of answers ‘googling’, now a days, or even see Qatar in diff. angle using live map or Google earth, I know they are not updated but they are pretty good.

The whole point was creating this site was to help people, who is thinking to move here, if most people is saying come here get the job first, then you'll know, then creation of this site was not needed or pointless.

People writes books, on history, geography etc - why, so others can learn from it. If I need to learn something doing again same thing then what is the point of writing those books.

If I tell my son what I have learned from the past and from the life then he does not have to go through the same thing to learn same thing, what I have learned and he can save a lot of time. That’s how we (the whole world) move forward by saving time.

What I was doing is learning something by saving my time. For me what could take lot of time, for you is matter of a minute. It's not that I don't want to work or being lazy, making you doing the work. No, that was not my intension.

Again I appreciate all your effort & time you gave me to get better idea about Qatar living.

If I anyway hurt your feelings then I am sorry and I didn’t do that intentionally.

Thx All
NH