New and moving to Doha.... Possibly! | ExpatWoman.com
 

New and moving to Doha.... Possibly!

11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2015 - 23:11
Hello Ninac, Congratulations on your move :-) Before you start looking for places to live, you should definitely secure a place in school for your girls. I would start contacting schools now and filling out applications. I don't know if you've read through the web site, but finding a good school and securing a spot is so, so difficult here. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might have to wait until next September to have them start - it might take that long, unfortunately. Although, if your husband works for a company that has reserved seats at a school or is a sponsor, you might find a place faster. Definitely have your husband ask his HR department about what his company does for school sponsorship. Also, getting your residency permits (for you and the kids) might take a bit of time. Usually it takes about 3 months from when your husband starts working (he'll need a Qatari bank account with at least 3 months of salary deposits) to when he can officially sponsor you to get your resident permits. And, unfortunately, schools will tell you that they need the kids' resident permits before they can start school. So, that's another potential delay you will need to be aware of before you arrive. It might make sense for your husband to come first, get settled, start the resident permit process - while you work on getting school places sorted out. And when your kids have a school spot (and a start date) and you have all the paperwork for your resident permits, then come here, get the RPs sorted out and then have your girls' start school. Finding a compound (close to school) after you have a school spot is a good strategy because the traffic here can be quite heavy. Good luck with everything! Thanks Tulip327.... It's all pretty overwhelming, especially when working still and trying to sort out the house we are in for rental! Part of me just thinks I will figure it out. We have spoken to a few schools and they give the impression that there are passes at the moment, but that does conflict with what I hear from parents so who knows?! We are really excited for this change though and think it's such a good opportunity for our family so keep our fingers crossed and hope to meet some of you guys in real life once we are there....
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2015 - 23:07
Hi Nina we are in almost the same boat and moving from Berkshire. Husband already there and going through the process mentioned by Tulip. We were told we "may" get a school with a pending residents permit! No way? Are you there yet? We are planning to be there beginning Dec. met a great lady today who is back after six years and she gave me some fab advice about schools and housing. We are still waiting for my husbands official contract and until then are not handing in our notice here. I am hoping that they can join a school in January if people leave after Christmas! Who knows? It seems like a minefield and I think until we are there won't really know. We are hoping for Park House or Sherbourne. My husbands work have said our visas should be two weeks after his is done but frankly everything seems slowly slowly. I gather there are people that can home school for you privately kind of in between schooling. I would be rubbish!
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2015 - 23:03
Hello, Im really not much help as I've only been here 2 months and have no children :) but so far I love Qatar, Doha. We went to Dubai last week for the first time which we loved but both agreed it was a little crazy compared to Dubai so we both prefer Doha to live especially if we had children. Its more calm here, very safe feeling. I love that their is so much to see for me everywhere i go thats completely different to my home Australia. I think most people with children live in Compounds, i believe the good ones have waiting lists so maybe look into this a little more now. We are living in a apartment in West Bay. I like it because i love to run so can go for a run down the Corniche ( basically a beautiful cemented path running some length of the Gulf/Water) with trees and grass :). Its also walking distance to a shopping centre as I'm without a car while my husbands at work. Hope this helps a little with insight I really like it here :) cheers Samantha Gehoff Thanks Samantha, I think we will do compound as having the two girls will be good to have lots of friends and the facilities close by. We like the West Bay Area and also I think will look around Al Waab it all depends on the schools! Nice to meet you and hopefully we will be there mid-December. Sorry for my slow reply.... Been a bit busy :)
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 31 August 2015 - 23:24
Hi Nina we are in almost the same boat and moving from Berkshire. Husband already there and going through the process mentioned by Tulip. We were told we "may" get a school with a pending residents permit!
38
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 August 2015 - 11:12
Hello Ninac, Congratulations on your move :-) Before you start looking for places to live, you should definitely secure a place in school for your girls. I would start contacting schools now and filling out applications. I don't know if you've read through the web site, but finding a good school and securing a spot is so, so difficult here. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might have to wait until next September to have them start - it might take that long, unfortunately. Although, if your husband works for a company that has reserved seats at a school or is a sponsor, you might find a place faster. Definitely have your husband ask his HR department about what his company does for school sponsorship. Also, getting your residency permits (for you and the kids) might take a bit of time. Usually it takes about 3 months from when your husband starts working (he'll need a Qatari bank account with at least 3 months of salary deposits) to when he can officially sponsor you to get your resident permits. And, unfortunately, schools will tell you that they need the kids' resident permits before they can start school. So, that's another potential delay you will need to be aware of before you arrive. It might make sense for your husband to come first, get settled, start the resident permit process - while you work on getting school places sorted out. And when your kids have a school spot (and a start date) and you have all the paperwork for your resident permits, then come here, get the RPs sorted out and then have your girls' start school. Finding a compound (close to school) after you have a school spot is a good strategy because the traffic here can be quite heavy. Good luck with everything!
23
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 August 2015 - 10:30
Hello, Im really not much help as I've only been here 2 months and have no children :) but so far I love Qatar, Doha. We went to Dubai last week for the first time which we loved but both agreed it was a little crazy compared to Dubai so we both prefer Doha to live especially if we had children. Its more calm here, very safe feeling. I love that their is so much to see for me everywhere i go thats completely different to my home Australia. I think most people with children live in Compounds, i believe the good ones have waiting lists so maybe look into this a little more now. We are living in a apartment in West Bay. I like it because i love to run so can go for a run down the Corniche ( basically a beautiful cemented path running some length of the Gulf/Water) with trees and grass :). Its also walking distance to a shopping centre as I'm without a car while my husbands at work. Hope this helps a little with insight I really like it here :) cheers Samantha Gehoff
11
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 August 2015 - 09:32
Hi Ladies I'm new to the site.... I'm from Buckinghamshire in the UK and it looks like we may relocate to Doha with my husbands job. I know zilch about the area other than my googling. I've been to Dubai but not sure how it compares. I need to find us somewhere to live. We have five year old twin girls and also a British school. We think the timing will be approx Nov. so all in all.... Some advice would be excellent and to meet some fellow expats for advice when we come for a reccie would be a bonus :) thanks in advance!