Independent · not SAM.gov

What Submitted, Active, and Expired actually mean

Updated September 2026

People call us — or, more often, a paid “registration desk” — because the workspace says a word they do not like. The word is doing a specific job. Treat it as a status, not a moral verdict.

Work in Progress

You started a record and have not submitted it. Missing Login.gov, missing POCs, or an unfinished reps-and-certs section will keep you here. This is the only state you can usually finish the same evening if the papers are ready.

Submitted

You hit submit. Entity validation is now comparing your legal name and physical address to outside records. This is the wait. It can be days or weeks. A paid agent who promises to “expedite Submitted” is promising a queue they do not own. See what actually decides the wait.

Active

The record is current. A contracting officer or awarding official can use it. Active is not a trophy and not a paid certificate. It expires on an anniversary. Put that date on a wall calendar the day you first see it.

Expired

The year ran out. You are not awardable until you renew at sam.gov. Renewal is free. Mail that invoices you to “reactivate” is not SAM.gov. Use the renewal walkthrough.

Words that are not a product

You may also see validation errors, “ID assigned” notes, or a workspace that looks empty because you are signed in as the wrong role. None of those are sold as upgrades. If the person who held Entity Administrator has left, that is a different stuck state — recover the role through FSD.gov, not a search ad.

Confirm the label you are looking at inside your own SAM.gov workspace. Do not trust a screenshot a vendor emails you.