Had the EXACT same problem... Couldn't bypass welcome screen. Hardly bodes well for stability. Should at least be added to "Known Issues" in the OP since it is clearly, a KNOWN ISSUE.
The fact that 9/10ths of posts are about the EXACT same issue can mean one of two things:
1) Not everyone is reading the entire thread. Well, we know that happens.
2) Maybe the OP should acknowledge that this is a KNOWN ISSUE to save everyone the time of having to search the thread, and maybe save a lot of people time replying to the same problem for those who didn't read the thread. Expecting everyone to read an entire thread for install directions that vary from the norm is ludicrous.
EDIT
I give the ___ up.... I did exactly what everyone says on the second go. Factory wipe, flash MIUI (without GAPPS), boot to Welcome screen... and it's stuck again. It will let me select WiFi, but refuses to go any farther and just takes me back to the language selection.
THREE TRIES.... first time, yes I flashed Gapps (has NEVER been a problem in the past for me ever since Gapps has existed).
Second and Third tries, I double and triple checked that I factory wiped, and that I DID NOT FLASH GAPPS... Yet it still gets stuck on the welcome/wifi loop. I have wasted an hour on this.