Federal Entity Identity
What Is a SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI)?
Understand the U.S. federal Unique Entity ID, how SAM.gov uses it for entity identification and federal awards, and DSDillon’s published UEI.
On this page
The direct answer
A Unique Entity ID is the identifier assigned through SAM.gov to an entity that needs to be identified within U.S. federal award systems. It is separate from the entity’s tax identifier and from commercial identifiers such as a D-U-N-S Number.
SAM.gov allows an entity to request a Unique Entity ID even when it does not complete full entity registration. Full registration is required for activities such as bidding directly on federal contracts or applying directly for federal financial assistance when the applicable rules require registration.
How SAM.gov uses the Unique Entity ID
The UEI gives federal systems a consistent way to identify an organization across registration and award processes. SAM.gov distinguishes obtaining a UEI from maintaining an active entity registration, so the existence of a UEI should not be presented as proof that an entity currently holds a federal contract or award.
Organizations performing procurement or grant due diligence should check the current SAM.gov entity information and registration status relevant to the transaction.
DSDillon’s Unique Entity ID
Federal entity identifier
DSDillon UEI: WANPDHBMNN42.
The identifier is published to support institutional, procurement and vendor-onboarding checks. It identifies the entity within the federal entity-identification system; it does not by itself establish award status, responsibility determination or eligibility for a particular opportunity.
The UEI replaced D-U-N-S for U.S. federal award identification
The federal government transitioned from D-U-N-S to the government-assigned UEI for federal award systems. Dun & Bradstreet continues to issue D-U-N-S Numbers for commercial business identification and credit-file purposes.
Official SAM.gov resources
Use SAM.gov for current federal entity-registration and UEI information. A public identifier on a business website is useful for matching records, while the official system should control questions about current federal registration status.
A UEI and an active SAM.gov registration are not the same status.
SAM.gov allows an organization to obtain a Unique Entity ID without completing a full entity registration. The current SAM.gov guidance states that an entity needs registration when it intends to bid directly on federal contracts or apply directly for federal assistance where registration is required. An organization that needs only an identifier for certain other transactions may request the UEI alone.
For entities that do maintain a SAM.gov registration, SAM.gov currently requires renewal every 365 days to keep the registration active. This is why a public UEI is useful for record matching while current registration status still needs to be checked in the official federal system.
- UEI identifies the entity in the federal system.
- Registration status answers whether a SAM.gov registration is active, expired, submitted or otherwise in process.
- Award, responsibility and eligibility decisions require more evidence than the existence of a UEI.
For procurement due diligence
Use the UEI to match the correct entity, then inspect the official SAM.gov record and the requirements of the specific solicitation, grant or vendor process. Do not infer an active federal award or approval from the identifier alone.
Current primary source: SAM.gov Entity Registration and Unique Entity ID
Sources and methodology
UEI descriptions were checked against official SAM.gov materials on 17 September 2026. The DSDillon UEI shown above is the company identifier supplied for publication.
