What Is a UEI Number? How to Find Yours or Get One

A UEI (Unique Entity ID) is the 12-character code that SAM.gov, the System for Award Management, assigns to identify a business or organization for federal contracts and grants. Getting one is free, it doesn't expire, and it replaced the DUNS number in federal systems on April 4, 2022.

To find yours, sign in to SAM.gov and look in your Workspace, or search SAM.gov's entity records by your company's legal name. If your company has never had a UEI, you can get one at SAM.gov, on its own or as part of a full registration. Which you need depends on whether you'll bid as a prime contractor, directly to the government.

Sign in before you search. The Federal Service Desk, SAM.gov's help site, says you must sign in to search entity records. Signed out, a search won't show you registered companies, so instructions that skip the sign-in step are out of date.

Where to find your UEI

Start with the quickest option and work down.

In your SAM.gov Workspace. Sign in and open the list of your entities (the Federal Service Desk calls it the Entities widget). The UEI appears next to each entity, and again under the entity name when you open the record. This only works if your SAM.gov account already has a role with the company.
In SAM.gov's entity search. Sign in, select Search, then Entity Information and Entities. Include Active, Inactive and ID assigned in the Entity Status filter so you can find a lapsed registration or a UEI-only record. Search by legal business name or CAGE code, the separate five-character Commercial and Government Entity code. If the entity opted out of public search, use an account with a role on that record or ask its administrator for the UEI.
On USAspending.gov. If your company has won a federal contract, grant or loan, its recipient profile on USAspending.gov lists the UEI. The search box there takes a company name, a UEI or a legacy DUNS number.
In email from SAM.gov. SAM.gov emails the Entity Administrator, the person who controls the company's registration and hands out roles, at key moments. Those include when a registration is submitted, when it goes active, and 60, 30 and 15 days before it expires. Search the likely inboxes. Even if a message doesn't show the UEI, it tells you whose account manages the record.
From whoever registered the company. That could be an owner, an office manager, a bookkeeper, an outside consultant, or a counselor at an APEX Accelerator, the free registration help SAM.gov points small businesses to. The Entity Administrator can read the UEI in their Workspace and give you a role of your own.

What if you can't get into your company's record?

If the record exists but nobody on your team can open it, start with a role request to the current Entity Administrator. You send it from your SAM.gov Workspace, and the form asks for the company's UEI, one more reason to run the search in step 2 first. Ask for the Data Entry role if you need to update the registration. The administrator role itself can't be requested; a current administrator has to assign it.

If the administrator has left, there is none, or access has been lost, use an Entity Administrator Appointment Letter. An employee, officer or board member sends it to the Federal Service Desk. For a U.S. company, someone who can make commitments for the business signs it in front of a notary, and remote or online notarizations aren't accepted. The Federal Service Desk also points to this route when a role request goes unanswered for five business days. It recommends keeping more than one Entity Administrator on file.

What if your company doesn't have a UEI yet?

Make sure it really doesn't. If you start a new entity in SAM.gov and see "You May Have Already Registered This Entity" or "Unique Entity ID Already Assigned," a record already exists. In that case, request a role on the existing record instead of registering again.

If there's no record, you can get a UEI on its own or as part of a full registration. Either way you need a SAM.gov account, which you sign in to through Login.gov, and you start on SAM.gov's entity registration page.

	UEI only	Full registration
Who it's for	Entities needing an identifier without full registration, including some subcontractors and subawardees	Businesses planning to compete for federal prime contracts, subject to limited exceptions
What you provide	Legal business name, physical address, and date and state of incorporation, which SAM.gov validates; it may also ask for documents showing the business is real and distinct	The same details, plus tax and banking information, NAICS codes and size, representations and certifications, and points of contact
Can you bid as a prime?	Generally no. A UEI alone is not an active registration.	Generally yes, if you also meet the solicitation's eligibility requirements.
Upkeep	The UEI doesn't expire	Renew at least every 365 days. Keep registration active at offer and award and, where required, during performance through final payment. A lapse retains its UEI but can affect awards and delay payments.

If you plan to compete as a prime contractor, complete the full registration early. In most acquisitions, FAR 52.204-7 requires active registration when you submit an offer or quotation and at award. The provision also requires your UEI on the offer cover page. Registration alone does not establish that you meet the solicitation's other requirements.

You'll pick NAICS codes during registration, and our guide to choosing NAICS codes walks through how.

Once the registration is active, searching SAM.gov with the right filters is the next step.

UEI vs. DUNS, CAGE code and EIN

Your files may hold several ID numbers. The UEI is the one federal award systems use to identify your company.

Number	Issued by	What it's for today
UEI	SAM.gov	Identifies your entity in federal award systems; 12 characters
CAGE code	Defense Logistics Agency	A separate 5-character code; U.S. companies get one through SAM.gov registration
DUNS number	Dun & Bradstreet	Replaced by UEI as the federal award identifier on April 4, 2022
EIN (Employer Identification Number)	IRS	A business tax ID, entered separately during registration

If all you have is an old DUNS number, SAM.gov won't find you by it. GSA dropped DUNS numbers from SAM.gov when it switched to the UEI on April 4, 2022, and companies already registered got a UEI automatically. USAspending.gov's recipient search still accepts a legacy DUNS, so start there if your company has had federal awards. Otherwise, search SAM.gov by legal business name or CAGE code.

FAQ

How long does it take to get a UEI?

The timing depends on entity validation and whether your information matches government records. Some entities validate immediately. Document review can take days or weeks. Full registration also requires tax and CAGE checks. Allow several weeks and check SAM.gov and the Federal Service Desk for the current processing guidance. Do not plan a proposal around an estimated activation date.

Can one business have more than one UEI?

Each entity record in SAM.gov gets a single UEI, and no UEI is shared between records. A parent company and a subsidiary that's a separate legal entity register separately, each with its own UEI, and SAM.gov links them in a hierarchy. A second bank account doesn't get a new UEI. It's added to the same record as an EFT indicator, an extra set of banking details.

A company offered to register my business for a fee. Do I need it?

No. SAM.gov does not charge for a UEI, registration or renewal. A consultant may charge for helping you complete the process, but that is a separate professional service, not a government registration fee. You can complete registration yourself or get free help from an APEX Accelerator.

Generally, yes. A UEI identifies your entity; it does not give someone access to your registration. It is commonly used by agencies and primes to identify businesses. Share it when there is a legitimate business need, and keep your Login.gov credentials and account access separate.

About the FAR references: the solicitation and agency's effective deviation determine whether the codified FAR or the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul text applies. Use the linked sources below and the FAR overhaul deviation guide to check. Raise conflicts before the applicable deadline.

Sources

Federal Service Desk: What is Unique Entity Identification (UEI)?
GSA: GSA Systems Switch to Unique Entity ID (SAM) on April 4, 2022
GSA: Unique Entity ID (SAM) Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
GSA: Register your business
Federal Service Desk: How can I view a Unique Entity ID or Registration Record in SAM.gov?
Federal Service Desk: How can I view my Unique Entity ID or entity registration record?
USAspending.gov: Recipient Profiles
Federal Service Desk: What types of notifications will Administrators and Points of Contact receive from SAM.gov?
SAM.gov: Entity Registration
SAM.gov: Entity Registration Checklist (PDF)
Federal Service Desk: How do I request a role on SAM.gov?
Federal Service Desk: How can I become the administrator for my non-federal entity registration?
Federal Service Desk: I received the message "You May Have Already Registered This Entity"
Federal Service Desk: What's the difference between only getting a UEI and registering your entity?
FAR on acquisition.gov: 52.204-7, System for Award Management, and the FAR overhaul Part 52 text of the same provision
Federal Service Desk: What is CAGE or NCAGE Code and how do I obtain one?
Federal Service Desk: How long does entity validation take?
Federal Service Desk: How long does it take until an entity registration is considered active?
Federal Service Desk: What is an entity hierarchy?
Federal Service Desk: Will each EFT Indicator get a separate Unique Entity ID?