Gracy Biss is well known to locals and the expatriate community. Thirty five years in the Algarve, and her great success in sorting out expatriate paperwork in Portugal, has brought her an outstanding reputation throughout the Algarve.

Who doesn't know Gracy Biss and her son, Ricardo? Wherever she goes, the Finanças (tax authority in Portugal), IMT (for driving licences), Segurança Social and councils, she knows everyone and everyone knows her. These contacts she has gathered over the years have made her the right person to arrange paperwork on time, which is of the utmost importance.

She not only knows the right people, but also knows the procedures extremely well. "This has obviously taken many years. We do not attend the public department without necessary documents. They know that when we go there, the file is complete. The ladies who work in the public offices therefore trust that no document will be missing to start that process," she said.

Gracy Biss is Brazilian and since arriving in Portugal she has dedicated her life to making life easier for expats. As an expat herself, she also had to arrange her own paperwork when she began her life in Portugal and it wasn't easy for her either.

Portuguese translator

Primarily, she began as Portuguese teacher when her students started saying that there was difficulty in doing the documentation, “since at that time the people who worked in the public departments were elderly and they didn't speak English, so they always asked for a translator. I started to help them to do the documents and I started to find out what documentation was needed and I establish what was very necessary to help them," she told me.

Ricardo joined the business

With Portuguese nationality and 35 years experience in the field, she continues to help expatriates with the same effort, but now she counts upon the help of her son who has joined the business and deals with the technological side of it.

GB in Port areas of expertise are vast, such as bureaucratic assistance in importing and registering vehicles, driving licences, obtaining a tax number, a NHS number and/or getting a residence permit.

Clients’ time is precious

"I love the law and I love the bureaucracy. The harder it is, the better" she said. Her passion, combined with honesty seems to be the key: "If I can do it, I do it, but if I can't, I let the client know and suggest someone else to deal with the problem. We don't waste their precious time."

"For example, if they need a document from the parish council or if they need a doctor for their driving licence, we don't tell the customer to go to the doctor. We have a doctor who does this for them, they come with us, they go and see the doctor. It's about making the process as easy and as quick as possible”, she added.

Times have changed, and most of the staff speak English; however, it is still not easy to deal with all this paperwork in a foreign language as the official documentation is in Portuguese. If you find yourself struggling with paperwork, Gracy and Ricardo are happy to help and assist you.

“We offer a very personal, quality, standard of service. Nulli Secundus”.

Please call +351 910 996 600 or email info@gbinport.com, you can also visit their website at www.gbinport.com or find them at Rua do Viveiro, Lt 4, 5th floor (turn right) in Lagoa.

Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins