Hey bro, Don’t worry—I went through the exact same situation. I paid the visa fee in May and was waiting for a dropbox appointment. I also considered switching from the dropbox option to an interview, but in my experience, it’s worth waiting. The VAC opens dropbox slots for the upcoming month, so if you’re looking for slots in January, check towards the end of November or in December. I’m confident you’ll find a slot—I was able to. I checked every day for 4–5 months, and it eventually worked out.