DUNS number
A proprietary 9-digit identifier owned and issued by Dun & Bradstreet, a private company. For decades, doing business with the government meant first getting a number from a commercial data broker.
Glossary: SAM.gov Essentials
The UEI number, explained by people who used it to pay vendors
What the 12-character SAM.gov identifier does, how to get one free, and why the record behind it matters more than the code itself.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Assigned free by SAM.gov
Replaced DUNS in April 2022
On every federal award you touch
Definition
What a UEI number is
The Unique Entity ID (UEI) is the 12-character alphanumeric identifier thatSAM.gov assigns to every entity registered to do business with the U.S. federal government. SAM.gov issues it free during registration, or on its own for entities that only need an identifier. It replaced the DUNS number in April 2022.
The Process
How to get a UEI, step by step
Five steps, no fee, no middleman required. The only step that ever takes real time is validation.
One caution before you start: getting a UEI alone does not make you eligible for contract awards. The identifier says who you are; an active, completeSAM registration is what makes you awardable.
- 01
Create a Login.gov account
SAM.gov signs you in through Login.gov, the government’s shared sign-in service. Set it up first, with an email address your business will keep.
- 02
Choose your path on SAM.gov
On SAM.gov, either request a Unique Entity ID by itself or start full entity registration. The standalone ID suits entities that only need to be identified, such as some subawardees.
- 03
Confirm your legal name and address
Enter your legal business name and physical address exactly as they appear on your formation documents. Trade names, PO boxes, and abbreviations cause mismatches.
- 04
Pass entity validation
SAM.gov checks your name and address against independent documentation through entity validation before issuing anything. If the records disagree, the process stops here until you resolve it.
- 05
Receive your UEI
The identifier is assigned immediately once validation passes. It stays with your entity from then on; there is nothing to renew on the ID itself.
What Changed
UEI vs DUNS
Same job, different owner. The government took entity identification in-house.
Unique Entity ID
A government-owned 12-character identifier assigned directly by SAM.gov at no cost. The government controls its own identifier, and registration no longer routes through a third party.
DUNS is no longer used anywhere in federal awards. If a proposal template, capability statement, or teaming document still lists a DUNS number, remove it. Buyers read a DUNS on current documents as a sign the firm has not looked at its own paperwork in years.
Two Identifiers, Two Jobs
UEI vs CAGE code
Most registered contractors carry both. They come from different agencies and answer different questions.
| UEI | CAGE code | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | SAM.gov | Defense Logistics Agency |
| Format | 12-character alphanumeric | 5-character code |
| When assigned | During SAM registration, or on a standalone ID request | During SAM registration, after your entity is validated |
| What it is for | Identifies your legal entity across federal award, reporting, and payment systems | Identifies your facility and location, heavily used in defense contracting and logistics |
The CAGE code has its own rules and its own failure modes. We cover it separately on theCAGE code page.
Why It Follows You
Where your UEI shows up
From the buying side, the UEI is how the government keeps your file straight. It appears at every stage of the money's path.
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Offers and bids
Solicitations ask for your UEI, and buyers use it to confirm who is actually submitting.
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Contract awards and modifications
Every award document ties the contract to your UEI, and every modification carries it forward.
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Invoicing and payment
Federal payment systems match invoices to the entity record behind your UEI before money moves.
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Subcontracting reporting
Primes report subcontract awards against your UEI, so it follows you even when you are not the prime.
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Your SBA Small Business Search profile
SBA Small Business Search, formerly DSBS, shows buyers the profile tied to your UEI when they go looking for small businesses like yours.
The Failure Modes
When it goes wrong
We sat on the side that approved payments. When an identifier problem surfaced, the vendor waited, not the government.
Validation mismatches stall everything
If your legal name or address does not match the documentation SAM.gov validates against, nothing moves: no new UEI, no registration, no update to an existing record. The fix is documentary, not clerical.
How entity validation worksWrong data ripples into awards and payment
The UEI is only a pointer to your entity record. If the record behind it holds a stale address, an old bank account, or outdated ownership data, that error surfaces in award documents and payment systems, where it is slowest to fix.
A lapsed registration keeps the ID, loses eligibility
Your UEI does not expire, but your SAM registration does. When it lapses, the identifier still exists while your eligibility for new awards is suspended until you renew. See the renewal section of our SAM registration page.
SAM registration and renewalStraight answers
Before you ask
Is a UEI free?
Yes, always. SAM.gov assigns the UEI at no cost, whether you request the identifier alone or complete full registration. Anyone charging you for the ID itself is charging for a free government function.
Do I need a UEI if I only want a grant?
Yes. Federal grant applicants need a UEI, and most grant programs require full SAM registration on top of it. Check the requirements of the specific program before assuming the standalone identifier is enough.
Can a business have two UEIs?
One registered entity gets one UEI. An organization can hold more than one when it registers separate legal entities or separate physical locations as their own entities in SAM.gov. What you should never have is two UEIs pointing at the same entity; if you find duplicates, resolve them in SAM.gov before they confuse buyers and payment systems.
I still have a DUNS number. Do I need it?
No. The federal government stopped using DUNS in April 2022 and replaced it with the UEI. Remove the DUNS number from your capability statement, proposals, and templates; listing it dates your documents.
How long does getting a UEI take?
The identifier itself is assigned immediately once entity validation passes. Validation is the variable part: when your legal name and address match your documentation it can clear quickly, and when they do not, it holds until the mismatch is resolved. Anyone quoting you a fixed timeline is guessing.
Notes from the buying side
From the blog
What breaks when you build your own federal foundation
You can complete every registration yourself. Almost nobody completes them well, and the damage stays quiet for about a year before it shows up as silence.
How buyers actually search SAM
Keyword habits, saved searches, and the fields agencies filter on. Written by people who ran those searches for a living.
Get the identifier, and the registration behind it, done right
We handle SAM registration end to end, validation problems included. Or start with a free consultation and we will tell you what actually needs fixing.