Are American universities letting international students start their PhDs from their home countries? Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, not only international traveling but also obtaining visas is very difficult and sometimes impossible, depending on the country. Are American universities accepting international students that are in such predicament and allowing them to work from home (in this case, their home country)?
In general you will need a visa in order to get any of your tuition covered either by a fellowship, research funding, or teaching assistantship. Tuition without remission can be very expensive in the US, usually much larger than the stipend you actually end up being paid to live on.
My best guess is that if you are accepted, you can defer your start date until your visa comes through. This way you won't have to enroll and pay tuition before you can get &quot;paid&quot; by the university though tuition payments.
Also, your visa might come through! I moved internationally September 2020 for a postdoc, and all my paperwork came together in time. Neither the country I lived in last year nor the country I live in now are my home country of citizenship. Covid did cause some complications, but both governments were understanding, and in the end everything was approved.
Edited: check out the comments. Apparently some (maybe many?) universities ARE able to cover tuition without a visa! This wouldn't have been my guess, but that's great for international students! In any case, start talking to your dept. If they can cover you, great, if not, you'll still need to talk to them about the possibility/process of deferring.