How to Register in SAM.gov and Get a Unique Entity ID (UEI)

To apply for a federal grant, your organization needs an active entity registration in SAM.gov, the System for Award Management. Registration is free, it assigns your Unique Entity ID (UEI), and it must be renewed every 365 days. Grants.gov tells applicants to allow up to 10 business days for a registration to become active, and NSF warns it can take up to a month when validation hits a snag, so start well before any deadline.

This guide walks through what SAM.gov registration is, what to gather before you start, the steps in order, how long each part usually takes, and the mistakes that cause delays. Every rule below links to the official page it comes from. Rules change, so confirm the details on SAM.gov before you rely on them.

What SAM.gov registration is and why it matters

SAM.gov is the federal government's system for recording which entities can do business with it. A full entity registration lets an organization bid on government contracts and apply for federal assistance, which includes grants and cooperative agreements. During registration, SAM.gov assigns the organization a Unique Entity ID. That ID then follows the organization into Grants.gov and into agency systems such as NSF Research.gov and NIH eRA Commons.

Grants.gov uses your SAM.gov registration to establish who has authority to act for your organization. The person you name as the Electronic Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC) in SAM.gov becomes the person who controls your organization's roles in Grants.gov. That is why the order matters: SAM.gov comes first, Grants.gov second, and the application third. You can read the full sequence on the Grants.gov applicant registration page.

The Unique Entity ID (UEI)

The UEI is a 12-character alphanumeric identifier assigned by SAM.gov. It replaced the nine-digit DUNS number in April 2022, so if older paperwork in your files mentions a DUNS number, you can ignore it for federal purposes now. According to NSF's SBIR/STTR guidance, the UEI itself does not expire. Your registration does. If a registration lapses, the organization keeps the same UEI but cannot submit proposals until it renews.

UEI only versus full registration

SAM.gov offers two paths. You can request only a Unique Entity ID, which needs your legal business name and physical address. Or you can complete a full entity registration, which assigns a UEI as part of the process. The difference is important. SAM.gov states that if you choose to only get a Unique Entity ID, you cannot apply directly for federal awards. The UEI-only path is meant for organizations that only need an identifier, for example to be reported as a subrecipient under someone else's award.

If you plan to apply for a grant yourself, choose full registration from the start. Switching later costs time.

Before you start: what to gather

The registration form asks for a lot of detail, and most delays come from information that does not match other government records. SAM.gov publishes an entity registration checklist on its registration page. In practice, have the following ready before you sign in:

• Legal business name and physical address exactly as they appear in your IRS records. Even small differences, such as an abbreviation or a missing suite number, can trigger a manual review.
• Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), which for most organizations is the Employer Identification Number (EIN). SAM.gov sends it to the IRS for validation.
• Banking information for electronic funds transfer, because federal payments are made electronically.
• Points of contact, including the person who will serve as E-Biz POC. Choose someone who will stay with the organization and who can respond quickly.
• Organization details such as entity type, start date, fiscal year end, and the industry codes (NAICS) that describe your work.

Gathering this first means you can complete the form in one sitting and reduces the chance of an IRS mismatch, which is the step that most often slows registrations down.

Step by step: registering your entity

Step 1: Create a Login.gov account

SAM.gov accounts are set up through Login.gov, the shared federal sign-in service. Login.gov manages your username, password and multi-factor authentication. You create or sign in to Login.gov, then return to SAM.gov to finish your user profile. The same Login.gov account also works for Grants.gov, which has required Login.gov sign-in for applicants since February 2022.

Step 2: Start a new entity registration

In SAM.gov, choose to register an entity and select the purpose of registration. If you want to apply for grants, select the option for federal assistance awards. Some organizations also select contracts. The form changes slightly depending on your choice.

Step 3: Enter core data and validate your entity

SAM.gov first confirms that your entity is unique by checking your legal name and address. This is entity validation. If the system cannot match your details automatically, it may ask you to upload documents that prove your name and address. Keep your formation documents and a recent official letter with your legal name and address handy for this step.

Step 4: Complete the remaining sections

You then enter financial information, points of contact, and the representations and certifications the government asks of every registrant. Read the certifications rather than clicking through. They are legal statements about your organization.

Step 5: Submit and wait for activation

After you submit, SAM.gov sends information to outside parties for validation. This includes TIN validation with the IRS and, where it applies, CAGE code assignment with the Department of Defense. Your registration becomes active only after those checks finish. Grants.gov advises allowing up to 10 business days. NSF notes that completion can take up to one month, and that a failed IRS or CAGE validation can make it significantly longer.

Step 6: Record your UEI and renewal date

Once active, your entity record shows the UEI and the expiration date. Put the renewal date in a shared calendar with a reminder at least 60 days ahead. A lapsed registration is one of the most common reasons an otherwise ready application cannot be submitted.

How long registration takes

The honest answer is that it depends on how cleanly your information matches IRS and other records. Starting the form takes only a few minutes. NSF says the initial entry takes 10 to 15 minutes, though gathering documents takes longer. Activation is the slow part. A realistic plan:

• Allow at least two weeks for a new registration, based on the Grants.gov guidance of up to 10 business days.
• Allow up to a month if your organization is new, recently changed its name or address, or has never been validated with the IRS.
• After SAM.gov is active, allow time for Grants.gov and agency systems to pick up the record. NSF, for example, notes it may need up to two business days to process new SAM.gov information.

If your status stays at "submitted" for a long time with no request for corrections, contact the Federal Service Desk, which handles SAM.gov help requests. You can use our Application Timeline Planner to work backward from a deadline and see whether registration still fits.

Renewing every 365 days

SAM.gov requires you to renew your registration every 365 days to keep it active. Renewal is not automatic. SAM.gov sends reminder emails to your points of contact, which is another reason to choose contacts who will still be with the organization next year.

Renewal can trigger the same outside validation as a new registration, so do not wait until the last week. Agencies treat an expired registration as your responsibility. NIH, for example, states in notice NOT-OD-23-153 that its late application policy does not allow late submissions caused by failure to complete or renew required registrations.

Registration is free: avoid paid "registration services"

Registering in SAM.gov and getting a UEI costs nothing. Grants.gov and NSF both describe the registration process as free. Some private companies send letters or emails that look official and offer to register you for a fee, or claim your registration will be cancelled unless you pay. You are never required to pay anyone to register. If you want help, SAM.gov links to APEX Accelerators, which assist businesses that want to work with the government, and the Federal Service Desk handles SAM.gov questions.

The FTC's guidance on government grant scams is worth reading before you register. Our guide on how to spot a grant scam summarizes the warning signs.

Common mistakes that cause delays

• Name or address mismatch with the IRS. Use the exact legal name and address on your IRS records. If your organization changed its name, update the IRS first.
• Choosing UEI only when you meant to apply. A UEI-only record cannot apply directly for awards.
• A departed staff member as E-Biz POC. If that person leaves, you can lose control of roles in Grants.gov until the record is updated.
• Letting the registration lapse. Renewal reminders go to listed contacts. If nobody reads that inbox, the registration expires quietly.
• Starting too close to the deadline. Registration delays rarely count as a reason to accept a late application.

After SAM.gov: what comes next

With an active registration and a UEI, your next step is Grants.gov. The E-Biz POC creates a Grants.gov account with the same email address used in SAM.gov, adds an organization applicant profile using the UEI, and assigns roles such as Authorized Organization Representative to the people who will submit. Our guide on applying on Grants.gov step by step covers that process in detail.

Some agencies also require their own registrations. NSF uses Research.gov, and NIH uses eRA Commons. The funding notice lists every system you need, so read it early. Our guide to reading a NOFO shows where to find those requirements.

A short checklist

1. Confirm your legal name, address and EIN match IRS records.
2. Create a Login.gov account for each person who will work in SAM.gov or Grants.gov.
3. Start a full entity registration in SAM.gov for federal assistance.
4. Choose a stable E-Biz POC and backup contacts.
5. Submit, then watch for requests for documents or corrections.
6. Record your UEI and expiration date, and set a renewal reminder 60 days ahead.
7. Register in Grants.gov and any agency system the funding notice names.

Our Federal Grant Readiness Checklist turns these steps into a checklist you can work through with your team.