How to know about Beautiful Life in Qatar

Author: Iqbal | Guide: Qatar |

Qatar is a Gulf country situated in Southwest Asia. It is a part of Arabian Peninsula at the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Doha. Qatar has monarchy system and it has the rule of ‘Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani’. As the gulf countries are famous for oil resources. Qatar has the world’s third-largest oil resources.

Because of these oil resources, it has a strong and developed economy. Not enough, it has secured the first rank in the list of those countries who have the highest income and highest per capita income.

Thinking of going to live in Qatar? Want to enjoy life in Qatar? Well it is not a big deal because around 1.5 million of Qatar’s population is expatriates. Daily approximately 500 expatriates come to Qatar.

Not only that daily many visitors come here just to visit their relatives. The reasons it has become one of the attractive places to go whether it is for living or for holiday are because it is one of the safest places around the world.

The second reason is the Arab culture; it is very friendly and welcomes you whole heartedly in their country. But before enjoying the life in Qatar we think you should know the basic knowledge about the Qatar’s lifestyle, people, cost of living and all this kind of things.

So, here we are with this basic information step by step. Have a look-

Life in Doha

1. Expat life in Qatar

Life in Qatar has a quality life. For expat starting years will be a struggling period in Qatar. There are many things like accommodations, schools, lifestyle etc. which will take the time to adjust. These things can be

Explained as following-

• Laws- Gulf countries are known for strict laws that are why it’s crime rate very low. So, go through reading to the laws and keep them in mind.

• Accommodation- Qatar is an attractive place to live and daily its expatriate’s population is increasing. For this the government is building new houses at pace. The homes are in demand so the rent will be high. The homes will seem quite spacious and will be with full facilities.

In other words, it will be wonderful having a home in Qatar but it depends moreover on its location. As providing accommodation is like business there so all home designs will look similar.

The concepts of villas and apartments are growing like never before. So, the chances of getting your own home can become successful. And owning a home is like a dream comes true. But the search of a house can be quite frustrating because houses sell like hot cakes.

• Lifestyle-The lifestyle or the social circle is quite good. It is said that you can make friends easily in the Middle East countries. The reason is you always go to these countries through a sponsor who will be most of the time your relative or acquaintance.

Through Through them, you can meet new people easily and your social circle can enlarge. Moving with family can be easier to be fit in the lifestyle because there are many activities for family members like museums, beach and coast line activities etc.

• Education- Well if you are planning to move with your kids then we will suggest you to register your kid in Qatar’s schools very early. Because daily many expats come here with their family and the schools are not in that adequate numbers.

So it should be better to register early for kid’s school or you will get a long waiting list there. Which will make you kid’s time waste.

You will find both schools here Arabic and the English medium. Many international schools have opened their branches in Qatar and their level of teaching is very good in each field.

As getting admission is a messy thing there, it costs very high for schooling.

• Weather- The weather has contrast here as it is dessert area so it has extreme heat and mild winters. Summers last from June to August. Winters last November to April.

Summers are unbearable to stay there but winters are quite good here. In summers you cannot go outside because of extreme heat but in winters you can enjoy life in Qatar like outdoor activities.

• Safety- Every citizen wants one’s safety in the country she/he lives. Looking as safety aspect Qatar is quite safe. The crime rate here is very low.

• Culture- The culture of Qatar as we have said is very friendly. You will find a huge community of expatriate there. You can join any expat club. As we have discussed that making friends there is very easy.

You can make your own social life easily. The thing that bothers you will be the Muslim culture. At start you will find it a little difficult to adapt the Muslim culture.

Because many things are different there like job timings, holidays, dressing sense and your social behavior. You will see the locals wearing their traditional dresses.

The women here have to cover their knees and shoulders. The locals might not do hand shake with expats. So, all these things are quite different here from other places.

• Healthcare- As par citizen’s health, there is one more thing you will enjoy during life in Qatar. That is health insurance. There you can get health insurance by Hamad Medical Corporation.

If you are going there for the job then usually your employer ensure you with the health care insurance. But if it is not available you can also get it by yourself.

2. Moving to Doha

As you know Doha is the capital of Qatar. So, most of the development has been done here. The things we have discussed above for Expat life in Qatar also applies to the expat life in Doha also.

But there are some more things you will find in Doha. Doha has the Doha University which provides not even all varieties of courses but also stands in world’s famous universities.

Doha is a hub of education and it also has an Education City institution, which also provides many varieties of courses. Not only in education, Doha is also very good in health care field.

It has many branches of international hospitals there. So, you can see life in Qatar is good but if you live in Doha it will be an extra bonanza for you.

3. Cost of living in Qatar

For cost of living, we can look at two aspects- one will be the cost of living in Qatar and second is the cost of living in Doha. Which are as follow-

Cost of living in Qatar- Life in Qatar is quite attractive. It pays you the good salary but it can be counted good salary only when you can save much money from it.

The savings depends on the cost of living. The costs for an expat living in Qatar is contradicting. Because many things have cheap prices but on the other hand many things have very high prices.

This can be studied as section wise-

Cost of Accommodation- As we have talked the accommodation is good there but it cost very high because of increasing demand.
Cost of Fuel- Qatar is an oil resource country so it has very cheap rates of petrol.
Cost of Food- For food, there are two options- local brands and the imported brands. The local brands will serve you cheap as well as fresh things while imported brands will serve you expensive.
There are many local restaurants which serve delicious dishes for your appetite at very cheap cost. But the liquor is quite expensive there.
Cost of Clothing- The cost of clothing also depends on what you are buying. There are rows of cloths shops in malls. Both the high profile and the other brands.
Cost of Electronics- The cost of electronic products also costs high so people prefer to buy it overseas at cheaper rates.
Cost of Education- The education is quite expensive because the schools have not adequate no. to the proportion of the population.
Cost of Travel and Entertainment- The cost of traveling can be saved because most of the time employees enjoy free return flights from their homes.
But the free time can increase your entertainment cost. Cost of living in Doha- Cost of living in Doha is almost same of Qatar’s.

4. Transportation in Qatar-

When it comes for transportation people have huge love for their cars. The petrol is very cheap here so transportation cost remains low. You can hire a driver or taxi on rent if you go there for visiting purpose.

You will find many rental companies with good rental services. Buying car there also costs low. For expats buying second-hand cars is a good option. Then comes the public transportation in which are the taxis and the local buses.

The taxi fare starts from 4 QAR per kilometer. The local buses go on the fixed main routes only and its fare starts 3 QAR. Sometimes the employers include the transportation cost in the salary package. So, it will be more convenient for you.

5. Internet in Qatar-

In today’s era internet has become the basic need of a person. Many activities are done through to the internet like passport, visa work etc.

Qatar has the second largest internet region in Arab countries. Government has planned to cover most of the parts through wireless internet.

Even now many parks and places are provided with free wireless facilities. Broadband users are increasing day by day. The plenty of internet cafe option is also available.

6. Qatar living cost

Now talks about the prices of things in Qatar. We will talk about the main things only for estimation.

Accommodation price- Average price of rent- 9000 QAR, Range- 6000-12000 QAR. Outside of the city costs cheaper.
An average price of rent outside of city center- 6000 QAR, Range- 4000-8000 QAR. Average price for buying an apartment- 18000-19000 QAR, Range-13000 to 25000 QAR (both in the city and the outside of the city).
Education price- Kindergarten costs 20,000 QAR a year while high school costs 60,000 QAR include all the expenses.
Fuel price- 1 liter gas or oil or super petrol – 1 QAR 1 liter of normal petrol- 0.8 QAR
Healthcare Price- 200 QAR annually.
Mobile and Internet Price- Around 200 QAR – 500 QAR depending on usage.
Food & Clothing price- Depends on the things you consume. Imported things costs expensive than the local things.
Clothes are also expensive like- Levis jeans costs- around 400 QAR or a pair of shoes of brand costs 400 QAR.
So, approximately food expense is 1000 QAR to 2000 QAR and with two kids the expense will go up to 3000 QAR.
Transportation price- public transport- 20 QAR- 40 QAR. Own car maintenance expense- around 2500 QAR.
Entertainment price- 1000 QAR -2000 QAR.

7. Places to Visit in Qatar

Qatar is a quite attractive place not only for living but for visiting too. There are several places you can visit in Qatar (Natural Landmarks, Activities, Sight Seeing, Shopping, Entertainment), mostly situated in its capital Doha. Names of some places are given below-

The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.
The Corniche, Doha
Al-Zubarah, Northwest of Qatar
Qatar National Museum, Doha
Al Wakra Museum, Al Wakra
Al Jassasiya Carvings, Al-Ruwais
Desert Safari, Doha
Kassem Darwish Fakhroo Islamic, Doha
The Golden Mosque, Doha
Katara Mosque, Doha
Souq Waqif
Film City, Doha

8. Required Documents for Going to Qatar

For going to Qatar first of all you have your valid passport. Then you can apply for the visa process. For visa, you should have one sponsor who can apply for your visa in Qatar.

Either you are going for an expatriate job or for visiting a relative. For the first one, you have to apply for a business visa and for the second one, you have to apply for family visit visa. Both will give you limited time period which you can be extended from time to time.

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