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This page was made available on October 29, 2021

Overview

The federal government is moving away from using the DUNS number and is replacing it with a new non-proprietary identifier, the Unique Entity Identifier, UEI. By April of 2022, the federal government will stop using the DUNS number to uniquely identify entities registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). At that point, entities doing business with the federal government will use a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) created in SAM.gov.

For details on why this transition is happening, please refer to the GSA website, gsa.gov/entityid.

To support this transition, HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) are being updated to enhance all fields that are labelled as DUNS number fields to UEI fields and are updating the associated processes, such as organization registration pages.

What pages are being updated with this release?

Previously updated in June 2021: Application Tracker Widget, Organization Registration, Grantee My Portfolio pages

October 2021: Applications, Grants.gov, and Smart Assist

UEI Changes to the Applications Process

In order to apply to a funding opportunity, your organization must have a UEI. If your organization does not already have a UEI, please go to SAM.gov to register your organization and receive a UEI. 

Note: For existing funding opportunities the applications will continue to display DUNS in Grants.gov and the EHBs. For any funding opportunities created after October 28th, 2021 the applications will display the UEI in Grants.gov and the EHBs. The below scenarios apply to new funding opportunities opened after October 28th, 2021.


Single-Tier Applications (Grants.gov)

When applying to a funding opportunity in Grants.gov after October 28th, 2021, as you complete the application you will see a UEI field in the Applicant Information section on the SF 424 (R&R) form.

For applications using version 3 of the SF424 form you will see the DUNS field. For applications using versions 4 and higher you will see the UEI field.

Note: You can enter the organization’s UEI or DUNS in Grants.gov until April 2022, at which point you will only be able to enter the UEI. If you generate a PDF of the application from Grants.gov, the UEI field will show the UEI or DUNS that you entered.


You will also see the UEI field in the Project/Performance Site Location(s) section on the application.

This is an optional field. At this time you can enter the UEI, DUNS, or leave the field blank. However, in the future you will only have the option to enter the UEI or leave the field blank. 


Two-Tier Applications (Grants.gov and EHBs)

When completing a two-tier application in Grants.gov and the EHBs, as you work on the application in Grants.gov you will see a UEI field in the Applicant Information section on the SF 424 (R&R) form.

For applications using version 3 of the SF424 form you will see the DUNS field. For applications using versions 4 and higher you will see the UEI field.

Note:  You can enter the organization’s UEI or DUNS in Grants.gov until April 2022, at which point you will only be able to enter the UEI. If you generate a PDF of the application from Grants.gov, the UEI field will show the UEI or DUNS that you entered.



You will also see the UEI field in the Project/Performance Site Location(s) section on the application. This is an optional field. At this time you can enter the UEI, DUNS, or leave the field blank. However, in the future you will only have the option to enter the UEI or leave the field blank.  



After completing the Grants.gov application you will then go to the EHBs to complete additional forms for the application. The EHBs will show the organization’s UEI in the Applicant Information section, regardless of if you entered the UEI or DUNS in Grants.gov.

Note: If the organization does not have a UEI, or the EHBs are not able to retrieve the UEI from SAM.gov, you will see the DUNS in the EHBs.



You will also see the UEI field on the Project/Performance Site Location page in the EHBs.

This is an optional field. At this time you can enter the UEI, DUNS, or leave the field blank. However, in the future you will only have the option to enter the UEI or leave the field blank. 



EHBs Only Applications

When applying to a funding opportunity in the EHBs only, on the Funding Opportunities – Choose Organization page you will see a list of all organizations you are tied to with a column for the organization’s UEI. Click Begin New Application to start the application for that funding opportunity.



As you complete the application in the EHBs, you will see a field for Organizational UEI in the Applicant Information on the SF424 form.



You will also see the UEI field in the Project/Performance Site Location section on the application.

This is an optional field. At this time you can enter the UEI, DUNS, or leave the field blank. However, in the future you will only have the option to enter the UEI or leave the field blank. 



UEI Changes in Smart Assist