The journey to Qatar has begun. While I haven’t actually left, the journey has definitely started. Preparing to move there has consumed my life for several weeks now. Once I received the job offer , I had to send the Qatar HR office a scan of my passport, a scan of my graduate diploma and, get this, a passport photo on a light blue background that was slightly smaller than the passport photo size required in the US for my visa. Sounds simple, right? Not in the least! No one takes a photo on a light blue background or in that size. Luckily, FedEx had a light blue wall and took my picture with my camera. I edited the photo to the correct size.
The next step was that I had to get fingerprinted, get a criminal background check and have it certified by the state of Texas. That didn’t sound so simple. First, I had to figure out how to get a background check at the state level. I filled out the wrong form and had to go twice and get fingerprinted twice. The background check arrived pretty quick. What got me was I had to get a document certified by the state of Texas on a document that was issued by the state! You can only get the verification at the Secretary of State in Austin. You can mail it, but it takes ten days to process. At that point, I wasn’t sure when I was going to be leaving and didn’t want to take the chance it would be delayed. I decided to take a vacation day and take a day trip to Austin. Thank goodness for Megabus! I was able to go down and back in one day. The real adventure began when I arrived at the office. They told me their system had been down all morning. They told me I could wait or leave it and they would mail it to me. My bus back to Dallas didn’t leave till 4:30, so waiting was an option. I went and had lunch. When I got back the system was still down for non-Hague convention countries, which included Qatar. Around 2:30 they got the system back up and I got my certification quickly!
My plane ticket is booked and today was my last day of work. The movers come next Saturday to put my stuff in storage at my parents house. Cross your fingers that I am able to fit everything I want to take in my suitcases!