Hi,
Glad to read you got your 820 all by yourself without an agent...
I did the same and it worked very well.
My husband and I have been in a relationship for almost 25 years, married for 18, so 3 weeks after I got my 820, I sent a message to my case officer to ask if I could get the 801 straight away as I thought I qualified for it.
And less than 2 hours later I got it.
I don't know how long you've been in your relationship for but it might work for you as well. And as you say, it doesnt hurt to ask. And if it works, it's a bonus.
Good luck, hope it works for you.
Veronique

Hey I asked this question via email and they replied with:

The department’s regulations stipulate that a permanent visa may be granted without having to wait for the two year period if at time of lodgement you can demonstrate one of the following:
at the time you apply for the visa, you have been in a married or de facto relationship with your partner for three (3) years or more
at the time you apply, you have been in a married or de facto relationship with your partner for two (2) years or more, and there are dependent children of your relationship
your partner was granted a Protection visa or a permanent visa under the humanitarian program and you were in the relationship before the visa was granted and this had been declared to the department at the time.

Hope it helps!

Hi all,

Long time since I posted last. I get that people generally go through this journey only once, but I have had the pleasure of going through this twice for myself and once with my best friend!! lol

So unfortunately, they applied in Jan 2018 and are still waiting for the 820.

Any recent updates or grants from the high risk countries? This one is from Pakistan.

Both partner's 820s (a Bangladeshi and a Pakistani) took less than 18 months. My best friend is on 34 months now and waiting!!!! They have two kids together!

Last update was received in April 2019 and they said still processing.

Any thoughts would be helpful.

Hey. I am from Pakistan and I applied with a front loaded application in Feb last year. I am still waiting myself. No updates only the usual automated emails.

I will let you know how my bestie goes with the current application.

It's been 34 months. No extra requests. Of note, the were refused initially for the 300 Prospective Marriage Visa, and we appealed (I did all the paperwork and went to the tribunal), and was granted.

Good luck with yours. Hope it doesn't take that long.

We have been together over four years now :)

I am just unsure on how to find the email address to contact my case officer, I can only find emails or phone numbers for general enquiries. The only emails I received were from DO NOT REPLY addresses

I used: [email protected]

Don't forget to change the state if your not from Victoria! Good luck.

Wow thank you so much!!!!

I cannot thank you enough ; I sent them a message on Thursday night, and got my permanent visa Friday morning!!

I'm so happy to hear that! Congratulations!!