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We are flying from Japan to Mexico City and have an 11-hour layover in Los Angeles (LAX). Our friend is willing to come pick us up to hang out for a few hours but we are unclear if we are allowed to leave the airport if we are connecting for international flights.

Our baggage will be checked all the way through and we wonder if leaving through customs without taking our bags will signal some sort of warning/alarm.

We are flying Malaysia Air from Japan and then Alaska Air from LAX. We are also American citizens.

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  • See this other question we have on the site. Short answer: yes, you can, since you are always required to clear US customs and immigration, even if you have landed in USA on route to somewhere else. Seeing that you are american citizens, you don't require a visa and that shouldn't be a problem.
    – mindcorrosive
    May 5, 2013 at 5:54

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If you are a US citizen or permanent resident:

Yes you can, when arriving at the US from any international flight you have to go through immigrations, then pick up your bags and go through customs, after that you will be able to leave and come back enough time before your connecting flight.

If you are not a US citizen:

In addition to the above information, you may be on a transit (C1) visa, which means your admission to the US while on transit might not be granted, if granted by the immigration officer then you can go out of the airport and have a tour or so. Just remember not to exceed the allowed time mentioned in your visa or decided by the immigration officer.

From immihelp.com:

A transit visa is particularly very useful if you need to change airports in the U.S. Even if you don't need to change the airport, if there is a long delay before you can board your flight to the final destination, instead of waiting in the airport, you can get out and tour the nearby places, visit friends or family members, or do shopping.

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  • @JiminyCricket, I did not notice that you mentioned your nationality at the end of your question so I added both cases.
    – Nean Der Thal
    May 5, 2013 at 9:08
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    1) Non-US citizens in transit are not necessarily on C1 visas. Most will likely be on VWP, and those that aren't could be on any other form of visa. 2) I've never heard of anyone being granted "transit" but not being granted "admission to the US". Do you have a reference for that? Given how US immigration works it doesn't seem to make sense.
    – Doc
    May 6, 2013 at 23:34
  • @Doc that's what the official websites says.. not me. I would appreciate it if you can improve the answer :)
    – Nean Der Thal
    May 6, 2013 at 23:53
  • @Doc one more thing, do you have an access to the immigration database? how do you know that all transit visa holders are granted access? while the official website says the opposite?
    – Nean Der Thal
    May 7, 2013 at 0:27
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    Some observations: That State Department link in the above comment is a big fat 404. Typically C1 transit and C1/D crewmember visa holders are stamped in for 29 days even for a same-day transit. And a US visa is not a guarantee of entry; if the CBP officer thinks your circumstances have changed or you will violate the conditions of the visa, you might not be admitted. And of course if you are admitted, even on transit, (except G-4 visas) you can go anywhere in the country as long as you don't overstay...
    – Michael Hampton
    Dec 26, 2015 at 3:50

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