What if my CFA value is slightly lower (0.88), but the other fit indices (RMSEA and SRMR) are below 0.5? Will i be said to have achieved configural invariance?
A CFI value of 0.88 does not indicate an adequate model fit, but the most important criterion would be the chi-square test of model fit. I'm assuming from the low CFI that the chi-square must be highly significant, indicating model misfit. You should re-examine your model to identify potential sources of model misspecification before moving on to more restricted invariance models that could only fit worse than your current model.