Do I need a Dubai visa if I am flying in, staying in the airport for 3hrs, then flying back out?

Question

I have an Indian passport, I am on business visit to Saudi Arabia with a business visa of 180 days validity, but my duration of stay is 30 days.

Due to extended business needs, I had to extend my stay hence someone suggested to do exit-re entry from UAE or some other country.

Hence I am planning to do the exit-re entry from Dubai, from where I'll get the next possible flight back to Saudi Arabia (there are many such options available with gap to 3-4 hours).

Now my query is, do I need to have valid Dubai Visa? Does my passport need to be stamped with a Dubai Entry/Exit stamp to count it as a valid re-entry in Kingdom?

I do not have any plan to go out of the airport in Dubai, I will catch the next possible flight back.

Answer 1

There are two main risks in this.

1. Airline will most possibly deny boarding. As, you took a ticket to UAE, airline is expecting you to visit UAE. They are trained to ask for visa, which you won't be having. I will return after 3 hours won't cut it. They will be heavily fined if something goes wrong and they won't take that risk.
2. If Saudi sees that you are coming back within a very short time (usually less than 24 hours), they will see this as a visa run and you risk having refused entry to Saudi arabia.

I suggest you to take a nearby country that has visa on arrival (That would be Qatar, but relationship with Saudi and Arab countries are bad and no direct flights as of now.). Or, the most safest, take a cheapest flight to any city in India, spend some time there and come back.