Unique Entity ID (UEI): the SAM.gov number for VA and grant contracts
Overview
A Unique Entity ID (UEI) is the free 12-character code of letters and numbers that SAM.gov assigns to identify a business in federal contracts, grants, and subawards. It replaced the DUNS number. A NEMT company needs one with a full SAM registration to bid on VA ride contracts or apply for federal grants, and the ID alone to receive a subaward from a grant recipient.
On this page
What the UEI is
The Unique Entity ID is a 12-character code of letters and numbers that identifies one business across federal award systems. SAM.gov, the System for Award Management run by GSA, generates it. Under 2 CFR 25.100, it is the universal identifier for applicants for federal financial assistance, for recipients, and for their first-tier subrecipients.
It took the place of the nine-digit DUNS number that Dun & Bradstreet issued. GSA announced the move to a SAM-generated ID in July 2019, and SBA’s contracting guide now notes that businesses no longer go to a third-party website to get their identifier. The UEI is a separate number from your NPI and your Medicaid provider number, which identify you to health payers.
What the full SAM.gov registration asks for, and how long it takes, is in our government contracts guide.
Get the ID only, or register fully?
The ID alone suits a company that will only receive subawards. To get it, you give SAM.gov just your legal business name and physical address. A company holding only a UEI cannot apply directly for federal awards, though. Bidding on a contract or applying for a grant takes the full entity registration, which assigns the UEI along the way and has to be renewed every 365 days.
A company that registered in the past does not need to request anything. SBA’s guide says an entity already registered in SAM has its UEI assigned.
Where a NEMT company gets asked for it
Four kinds of buyers ask for the UEI: VA medical centers, federal grant programs, grant recipients passing money down, and some local agencies.
VA ride contracts. Federal acquisition rules (48 CFR 4.1102) require offerors to be registered in SAM when they submit an offer, apart from narrow exceptions such as small purchase-card buys. Market research notices can ask for the ID before any solicitation is out. The Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center’s special mode transportation notice (36C25226R0075, posted May 29, 2026) asked respondents for their SAM Unique Entity ID and business size under NAICS 485991. The VA contracts guide covers how those buys work.
Federal grants. Under 2 CFR 25.200, every funding notice must require applicants to be registered in SAM before applying, to keep the registration active while an application or award is open, and to put their UEI on each application. Our guide to rural transportation grants lists programs NEMT companies apply to.
Subawards. Under 2 CFR 25.300, a grant recipient may not make a subaward to an organization that has not obtained a UEI and given it to the recipient. Subrecipients do not need full SAM registration to get the ID. Whether a ride company is a subrecipient or a contractor is the recipient’s call under 2 CFR 200.331. A contract buys goods or services for the recipient’s own use, while a subaward carries out part of the federal program itself.
Local bids. County and aging-agency buyers follow their own purchasing rules, but some put a UEI line on the proposal itself, as the example in our government contracts guide shows.
Keeping it active
A full registration lapses if you skip the yearly renewal. Under 2 CFR 25.200, an applicant or recipient has to keep its registration current while it holds an active federal award or has an application under review, and review its SAM information every year. Where it applies, that yearly review covers your immediate and highest-level owner, any subsidiaries, and any predecessor that received a federal award or contract in the last three years. Put the renewal date on the same calendar as your exclusion checks, which also run through SAM.gov.
Frequently asked questions
- Does it cost anything to get a UEI?
- No. SAM.gov charges nothing to get the ID, to complete a full registration, or to keep that registration current. Any fee you are quoted is for a private service.
- Is the UEI the same as a CAGE code?
- No. They are separate identifiers. SAM.gov generates the UEI, while a U.S. company that has no CAGE code gets one assigned after it submits a full registration. A UEI-only request asks for just your legal name and physical address, so it does not go through that step.
- We registered in SAM years ago with a DUNS number. Do we have a UEI?
- Yes. SBA's contracting guide says an entity already registered in SAM has already been assigned its UEI. Look it up in your SAM.gov entity record before you fill in a bid or grant form, rather than requesting a new one.
- We only drive rides for a grant-funded agency. Do we need a UEI?
- Only if the agency treats you as a subrecipient. Federal rules bar a grant recipient from making a subaward to anyone without a UEI. If the agency is buying rides from you as a contractor, that rule does not apply, though the agency's own bid packet may still ask for the number.
