Moving to Qatar
Clothes, shoes - where do they all fit?
Luckily for me, I did not have a house to empty, children to move nor require an international moving company to take me to my new home.
If you are moving with a couple of suitcases, I found using vacuum bags extremely useful. I could fit in a lot more than rolling, or laying clothes flat inside the suitcase. If you are in the UK, you can buy them in Argos, Amazon or even Ebay! I bought mine from Argos and collected them in the store.
They are very easy to use: Put as many clothes into the bag, but leaving a little bit of a gap where the zip is - say 2 inches. Press the bag closed, unscrew the cap on the valve and apply your hoover to the end of it, turn hoover on and watch the clothes reduce - ta daa!!
I managed to fit into one suit case: 1 double wardrobe of clothes and 4 large drawers worth of clothes.....
Ah-mazing!
What you do not need to bring - endless thick jumpers, thick cardigans, thick anything! I've got one thick jumper and 7months later i've not touched it... even during the Winter in Qatar all you need is a cardigan and maybe a little jacket. So unless you plan to leave Qatar and go skiing somewhere, you really do not need thick layers. Same with shoes, all I wear in Qatar are a pair of Mango black heels for work, or ballet pumps, and when outside I wear either flip-flops or sandals during the day, and killer heels at night (only because I am a shortie!)
Pets
Sadly I did not have any fluffy companions to bring to Qatar with me, but if you cannot bear to leave them behind with a new family, and happy to bare the costs, then I suggest six months before you move , go to the vets and get the little fluff ball injected and registered with a pet passport. There is a very well known company here which many people and charities use to get their fluffies shipped across the oceans:
http://www.qatarpettravel.com/
Paperwork
I have experienced the most stressful time with lots of different opinions and comments given to me by various people, including my HR Manager! But, as i'm now with my RP I will tell what you need....
Driving License
You need to drive in Qatar. Simple. As a Londoner, zipping around on my Brompton bike or using the train/tube/buses, coming here was a bit of a mobility shock. Before you leave the UK you need to go to the Post Office and obtain an international driving license. If you come to Qatar with only your UK License, then you can only drive with it for 7 days, you can only get a temporary license with your UK one until the tourist visa in your passport runs out, however if you have an international one that lasts a year, you are a lot more mobile then just your UK one.
I will tell you this now: Things in Qatar take a very, long, time to do.
Unless you are lucky enough to work for one of the big Oil & Gas companies out here, your Resident Permit process will take anywhere up to 3 months - and by the way, during this time you cannot leave the country. Once your visa has been changed from a tourist one to a business one, until you receive your RP, you cannot renew your temporary license as you are already in the system as a business visa and should have an RP. It's during this time that I was stuck without a license and risking driving without one, which is not an option. Taxi's are crazy, but not too badly priced, however Qatar is the hub of traffic because there are too many cars and the roads were not designed for so many.
I digress, just make sure you obtain that international driving license, you will thank me later!
Getting your education certificates attested in Doha
Give yourself a few months to get your certificates attested before you come to Qatar. It's a 3 step process and i'm here to help!
Gather your highest, most recent qualification/s and take them to a solicitor to get certified. We used all original documents during this process. Once that has been done, you need to send your documents to Milton Keynes
Direct yourself to this link, where you fill out a form, obtain the Milton Keynes address and complete the process online.
Now that you have your document certified by a solicitor and legalised by the UK Government, you will need to book an appointment with the British Embassy, Doha to get the document attested. Once they have stamped the document, it will be accepted by your company. Completing steps 1&2 in the UK will save you a lot of money, because everything has to be couriered to the UK and that is not cheap!
Marriage Certificate
Take it to the British Embassy in Doha straight away, along with your education certificates to get attested. If it is not attested it is not worth anything in Qatar's eyes. If you got married in a nice exotic country that was not your home, you might need to send it to that country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get an attested stamp - however, wait until someone asks you to do that, I found out when I went to get mine stamped at the British Embassy (We got married in Trinidad & Tobago).
Passport Photos
Bring around 20 passport photos of each family member with you, they will be snapped up in no time! If you don't remember to do this, don't fret! There is a very good photo place located in 'City Centre Mall', when you are inside it's to the left hand side of the supermarket 'Carrefour'. I received 8 photos which worked out to cost me around £1.50, which might even be cheaper than getting it done in the UK.
Make sure you have lots of time left on your passport too, i'm yet to experience trying to renew mine while in Qatar, but speaking with those who have done this, it was a royal pain and very slow. You can renew your passport up to 8months before it actually expires, so I highly recommend you do this before coming to Qatar if you need to. Also, when your documents are processed, your Business Visa sticker is placed in your passport, and your bank accounts aligned with that passport number, so to change it all..... well you can imagine the can of worms that will produce!
Birth Certificates
These don't need to be attested, but bring them along anyway, they might be required for ID purposes, anywhere, at any time.
*All photos have been taken from Pinterest
