i-864 and i-864A help, red flags?

[browser752]

I'm someone who falls under the F2A category. I was under 21 at the time I sent my application back in November 2019. My father(LPR) is petitioning me. Our package included an i-130, i-485, an i-864 from my father and another i-864 from my sister. Me, my father, and my sister live in the same residence. My father is currently unemployed. My sister has a job. This is where things start getting complicated.

Recently, I received an RFIE for the i-864. It is asking for a complete and correctly calculated household size. In my father's original i-864, we did not include my mother who lives abroad and my sister who filed a separate i-864. Also in my father's original i-864, the Household Size totaled to 2, just me and my father.

I have a couple questions:

1. Should my sister file for an i-864A now? Or is her i-864 sufficient already? From what we researched it is optional to have us included within my sister's household even though we live in the same residence.
2. My sister owns a business and plans to hire my father in the future. Initially we put $24,000 in my fathers income. Would it help our case if we suddenly put $0.00 for my father's income for this RFIE? Or is that a red flag?

Thank you for your help.

[newacct]

It sounds like your sister can either be your father's "household member" or a "joint sponsor". If she is your father's household member then she would fill out I-864A, not I-864, and her income would be combined with his on his I-864. She would be counted in his household size on his I-864. She can be his household member since she is his daughter and she is living in the same residence as him.

On the other hand, if she is a joint sponsor, she would fill out a separate I-864, and her income would not be combined with your father's on his I-864. In that case, she would not fill an I-864A as his household member as there would be no point -- his household income doesn't need to be enough since there is a joint sponsor. She would not be counted in his household size on his I-864.

Your mother needs to be counted in your father's I-864, since she is his spouse. You are right that your sister only needs to be counted if she is filing I-864A to be household member, and not if she is filing I-864 as joint sponsor.

If your father is currently unemployed, then his current income is 0. Current = right now, this moment; not past or future.