White Passport?

[std]

I talked recently to a friend who received her green card 15 years ago. She showed me a document issued by the INS at that time which she called "White Passport" and is used to enter the U.S. It has her A number, picture and in fact it sais it is not a passport but looks like a passport with white covers. Does anybody know what that is? Is it just an old-fashioned travel document or something else?

 

[nkm-oct23]

It is a re-entry permit. It is issued to permanent residents to return to US after >1 year absence and also to those GC holders who do not have a passport ( refugees, asylees, etc. for whom it serves the purpose of a passport to get visas etc). Looks similar to a regular US passport except that it is white in color.

 

[Aibolit]

USCIS recently changed it to bright-green.