How to Get Your Unique Entity ID (UEI)

Every CACFP applicant in Texas needs a Unique Entity ID before the Texas Department of Agriculture will process your application. It’s free, it takes about 10 minutes at SAM.gov, and it never expires.

First — check whether you already have one

If your business has ever registered at SAM.gov, or ever had a DUNS number, a UEI was already assigned to you. Search your business name at sam.gov/search — no account needed. If it comes up, you’re done.

The SAM.gov public entity search, with the Entity Information tab selected. — Search your business name here first — no account needed.

What you’ll need

Two things:

Your legal business name, exactly as printed on your IRS EIN letter — the CP 575 notice. If you’re a sole proprietor without a registered DBA, this is your own full legal name, not the name on your sign.
Your physical street address, where your business actually operates. No PO boxes. If you run a home-based child care home, that’s your home address.

You won’t need to enter the EIN number itself.

The steps

The SAM.gov Entity Registration page, with the green Get Started button in the right-hand panel. — Select **Get Started** in the right-hand panel.

Go to SAM.gov and select Get Started.
Agree to the terms and sign in. SAM.gov uses Login.gov — create a free account if you don’t have one, and it will bring you back automatically.
Choose Get a Unique Entity ID. Do not choose “Register Entity” — that’s a much longer federal contracting registration you don’t need.
Enter your name and address exactly as they appear on your documents, punctuation and abbreviations included. A mismatch is the number one reason these get stuck.
Certify that you’re authorized to act for your business, then submit.

Your UEI usually appears right away. Save it before you close the page — screenshot it, or print the confirmation to PDF.

If it doesn’t go through

SAM.gov will ask you to upload one document. Any of these work:

IRS EIN letter (CP 575 or 147C)
Articles of Incorporation or Certificate of Formation
Secretary of State certificate of filing

It has to match what you typed exactly. This takes longer than the rest of the process, so let us know if you land here.

Do I need a full SAM.gov registration?

No. CACFP contracting entities only need the UEI. Federal rule 2 CFR 25.300 states that subrecipients are not required to complete full registration in SAM.gov to obtain one, and TDA asks only for the number.

Hi, How can we help?