Considering a Move to Qatar?

Moving to Qatar from the UK

Abels Moving Services has provided discreet export packing and shipping for discerning families and professionals relocating to Qatar for over 50 years.

Qatar sits on the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf. Around 3.1 million people live here, in a country covering roughly 4,416 square miles, giving Qatar around half the UK’s population density.

Qatar: Coast, Climate and Countryside

Qatar has over 563km of sandy coastline, with well-known beaches including Al Ghariya, Dukhan, Fuwairit, Khor Al Adaid, Maroona, Ras Abrouq, Sealine Beach Resort, Simaisma, and Umm Bab (also known as Palm Tree Beach).

The climate brings near-continuous sunshine, with July temperatures often averaging around 42°C. Humidity climbs at points during the year too, enough that stepping outside from an air-conditioned building can fog up your sunglasses almost instantly. Rain is rare, typically no more than 75mm across the whole year.

Despite the heat, Qatar supports surprising biodiversity: over 300 bird species, from small bulbuls to ostriches, and more than a quarter of its territory protected as natural reserves, including Al Thakhira, Al Reem, Umm Tais, Ras Abrouq and Khor Al Adaid. Doha itself has green spaces too, including Al Corniche Park and Rumeila Park, where palm-shaded lawns make for an easy way to settle into outdoor life once you’ve arrived.e been providing discrete export packing and shipping services for discerning families and professionals relocating and moving to Qatar for over 50 years.

The Qatari Economy

Many people move to Qatar for work in the oil and gas industry. Qatar has one of the world’s highest GDP per capita, underpinned by substantial oil and natural gas reserves. In 2010, the economy expanded by 19.4%, the fastest growth rate of any economy in the world that year, and Qatar has continued to attract international professionals ever since.

If you’re relocating for work in this sector, it’s worth discussing your employer’s relocation support with your Abels advisor early on, since corporate moves to Qatar often involve tighter timelines and specific documentation tied to your employment visa.

Planning Your Move to Qatar

Talk to a specialist international removal company before you move to Qatar. The process has its own pitfalls, and a domestic mover won’t be familiar with them.

Before you call, think about whether you want to send everything you own or just a select few personal effects. Call our head office on +44 1842 816600 or email shipping@abels.co.uk, and we’ll be in touch shortly to discuss your move.

For full house moves or large volumes, we recommend a home survey. One of our International Customer Service Managers will visit your home, discuss your requirements, and answer any questions about the process. They’ll assess the items you’re packing, explain how best to protect them in transit, and confirm access for a larger removal vehicle or shipping container. Our colleague draws up a full list of items to take during the visit. Once we’ve collated all the costs (origin, freight, destination services), we’ll send you a detailed door-to-door removal proposal.

For smaller volumes, you can discuss your move over the phone, by email, or through our online service. We’ll assess your volume, access, packing requirements and shipping method from the information you give us, then send a detailed door-to-door proposal for you to consider.

Once you book with Abels, you’ll meet your Customer Liaison Move Coordinator, who works alongside your Customer Service Manager to manage the booking, organisation and day-to-day details of your move to Qatar.

Export Packing

Export packing is essential for your belongings when you move to Qatar. It protects your items in transit, using either a 6-ply paper blanket with a wax inner and water-resistant outer, or a tough bubble blanket with a soft cloth inner and robust outer that keeps corners protected. Certain items (polished furniture, antiques, delicate legs, mirrored or glass-fronted units) need an extra layer of card, cartoning, or wrap for additional protection.

A domestic move by road needs less protection than a journey of thousands of miles in a 20ft or 40ft container. Your items get handled multiple times on that journey: wrapped, loaded, driven to port, lifted on and off the stack, loaded onto the vessel, and the same in reverse at the other end. Robust export packing matters throughout.

We use the highest quality export materials throughout, designed to withstand a long export journey rather than a short domestic one. Containers are stacked up to two metres high, so cartons at the bottom need to hold their shape and protect their contents for the whole journey.

Qatar’s heat and humidity are worth factoring in too. Anything sensitive to high temperatures, such as some electronics, wooden furniture, or wax-based materials, benefits from extra care in how it’s packed and how long it sits in transit or storage before delivery. Your Abels advisor will flag anything in your inventory that needs this extra attention.

Fine Art & Specialist Packing Services

Fine art needs particular care, and shipments to Qatar involving valuable or delicate pieces (paintings, grandfather clocks, barometers, chandeliers) call for enhanced export packing and careful handling throughout. In many cases, we build bespoke cases specifically for the item.

How we dismantle these items before shipping matters as much as how we pack them. Grandfather clocks need their main components taken apart and weights removed before casing. Barometers need specialist handling too, since we bung the tube to prevent the mercury inside from spilling.

Thorough training is what keeps our packing teams versed in the right handling and packing techniques for items like these. Find out more in our moving advice.

Airfreight

Qatar’s main airport is Hamad International Airport (IATA code DOH), which replaced the older Doha International Airport in 2014. It’s one of the busiest hubs in the Middle East, handling tens of millions of passengers and a substantial volume of air cargo each year.

Sea transit typically takes around 7 weeks door to door, so consider airfreight for anything you need sooner. Security restrictions mean airfreighted goods need professional packing rather than owner-packed cartons. We load them into heat-treated modules of various sizes, with waterproof covering for extra protection. Allow around 2 weeks door to door for airfreight, to account for UK and Qatari security and customs checks before delivery.

See more on airfreight shipments.

Customs Information

Import and export rules govern personal items and household goods entering Qatar. Your Abels Move Manager will give you tailored guidance through this part of the process.

You’ll need specific documentation for customs clearance. The exact requirements depend on your personal circumstances, and our team will talk you through these ahead of your move. Explore the FIDI Customs Guide for Qatar for further background before your move consultation with the Abels team.

Shipping Services

We ship larger volumes and full house moves in a 20ft or 40ft container. Where access allows, we load the container outside your residence, so you can see our team’s care and skill first-hand. We seal the container with our uniquely numbered bolt seals. Where access doesn’t suit a container of this size, we load goods at our warehouse (you’re welcome to attend) or use a shuttle truck between your home and the container.

Some shipping lines offer low-cost freight at the expense of container quality and transit time. Abels sources containers through an organisation that secures A1-class containers on our behalf. These arrive without fractures, dry, clean, odour-free, and with a reliably consistent transit time. An odour in the container will transfer to your goods, and any fractures risk water damage.

Smaller volumes travel as LCL (less than container load). We take these to our warehouse and load them into heat-treated wooden crates for shipping.

Transit from port to port in Qatar typically takes around 30 days by sea, with vessels departing the UK weekly to Doha. Door to door, allow around 7 weeks, depending on weather, strikes, re-routing, vessel availability and customs inspections.

Read more about shipping options when moving abroad.

Destination Services

We choose our destination partners for their accreditations. Most hold the FIDI-FAIM quality award, so the standard you experience with Abels continues right through customs clearance and delivery in Qatar.

We notify our destination partner as soon as your container departs the UK. They’ll contact you as delivery approaches and manage customs clearance on your behalf. Once cleared, they’ll arrange your delivery date. This normally includes delivery, unpacking, set-up of standard furniture (excluding flat-pack items unless agreed), removal of packaging waste, and return of the container to the wharf. Talk to your Abels Customer Service Manager or Customer Liaison if you’d like additional services such as a put-away service, cleaning, or settling-in support.

Our destination agents bring local knowledge of import documents, customs clearance and delivery. This keeps your arrival in Qatar as smooth as possible.

Wherever your move takes you, we’d like to be the removal company you think of for this move, and the next one. If you’re moving to Qatar, or anywhere else in the world, get in touch for a removal quotation.