From before the 1983 amendment until 1986, the categories of eligible aliens  (1) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence; (2) an alien who was either married to a United States citizen or was a parent or an unmarried child under the age of twenty-one years of such a citizen and who had filed an application for adjustment of status under the INA; (3) an alien who was lawfully present in the United States as a refugee or who had been granted asylum by the Attorney General; (4) an alien who was lawfully present in the United States as a result of the Attorney General's withholding of deportation; and (5) an alien lawfully present in the United States as a result of being granted conditional entry.
There were five categories of eligible aliens from before the 1983 amendment until 1986.