A UEI is the twelve character code that identifies your business to the federal government. It replaced the old DUNS number in 2022, and unlike DUNS, which was issued by a private company, the UEI is issued for free, directly inside SAM.gov.

You do not apply for a UEI the way you apply for a loan or a certification. It gets generated as part of an automated check that confirms your legal business name and address, and once that check passes, the number is yours. Nothing about the process rewards paying someone else to do it: it is free, and anyone offering to get one for you is charging for a form you can fill in yourself in less time than the sales call took.

1 · Decide whether you need the UEI alone or full registration

SAM.gov lets you request a UEI without completing a full entity registration, which matters if you need the number for something other than federal contracting right now, a grant application, for example. If you are heading toward bidding on federal work, you will complete full registration anyway, so most businesses go straight to that path instead of doing this twice.

2 · Start the process on SAM.gov

Go to SAM.gov and begin either the UEI only request or a full entity registration. You will sign in through Login.gov first if you have not already set that up.

3 · Enter your legal business information exactly as official records show it

The validation check that issues your UEI compares what you type against your legal name and address on file elsewhere in government systems. Small differences, an abbreviation, a missing suffix, a slightly different address format, are the most common reason this step stalls. Copy your legal name from an official document rather than typing it from memory.

4 · Let the validation run

This step is automatic. Most of the time it resolves quickly. If your information does not match cleanly, SAM.gov will ask for supporting documentation, which adds time but is not unusual.

5 · Find your UEI once it is issued

Your UEI shows up in your SAM.gov entity record as soon as validation clears. Write it down somewhere you will actually find again. You will type it into registrations, capability statements, and forms for as long as you do this work, and it does not change once assigned, even across a SAM renewal.

If you are only after the number and not ready for full registration, stop here. If contracting is the goal, the UEI is simply the first piece of a registration you will finish in the same sitting.