I'm not a financial advisor, but you might think twice about this. Establishing a good credit history could save you a lot of money at some point in the future. It's a hassle now and doesn't seem to matter in the short term, but 10 years from now if you wanted to get a mortgage you wouldn't be able to go back in time to now to start establishing a good history and it might cost you a lot in interest.

Probably not the best stance to take. You can build quality credit much faster than you might think just starting with a secured credit card. It is certainly worth paying ~$15 for.

You can get no fee secured credit cards. The problem is usually the low limit with respect to the security deposit.

Personally, I wouldn't wait, because credit can take a long time to build (just getting an unsecured card will take a year).

You may also be able to get a card from a bank in your country of origin, some have branches or affiliates in the US.

It will not solve itself eventually. I have a friend who immigrated to the US and went this route, and he basically lost a few years he could have used to build a credit history, which hurt him ten years later when he wanted to buy a house.

So when I immigrated to the US, I started with a secured credit card as fast as possible. Mine was free to have, and you could set it up so it was paid automatically, in full, from your checking account every month. That way you just need to charge something to it each month, and you'll slowly build your history.

Why would you need to pay $15/year for a credit card? Most have no monthly fees - you can surely find a free one. If you pay the balance off in full every month it costs you $0. The big issue with having zero credit history is that you risk not being able to be approved for an apartment.