UEI (Unique Entity ID)

What is UEI?

The Unique Entity ID (UEI) is the government-issued identifier used to track an organization across the US federal award lifecycle — registration, contracting, sub-awards, and reporting. On April 4, 2022, the UEI replaced the DUNS Number as the official entity identifier in SAM.gov; the federal government no longer uses the DUNS Number for award purposes. Unlike the proprietary DUNS Number, the UEI is generated within SAM.gov itself and is free.

A UEI is 12 characters, alphanumeric, and is assigned when an entity validates its legal business name and physical address in SAM.gov. Entities that only need to be identified — for example, to receive a sub-award or to be listed — can obtain a UEI through entity validation without completing a full registration, while entities seeking direct federal awards must complete the full SAM registration of which the UEI is one component.

For vendors, the UEI is the number a contracting officer, prime contractor, or grant administrator will ask for. It appears on registrations, proposals, and award documents. Because the UEI is tied to the validated legal name and address, keeping those details consistent across SAM, incorporation records, and proposals avoids validation delays.