European welfare states were founded on the assumption that citizens who were in need of welfare protection were resident within the national territorial boundaries. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for jobs to be carried out, wholly or in part, abroad. Citizens and residents incur new social risks as their social and political rights in their home country often diminish as a result of the move. One example of this is when European firms send employees from European offices abroad to complete work assignments, namely international secondment. Taking the example of secondment to India, this paper investigates to what extent both the employee and their accompanying partners’ social rights are protected when they move outside of the territory of the EU and the EEA away from their country of usual residence, Denmark and Finland. This study is an analysis of how the social rights of seconded employees and their dependents, considered to be privileged migrants, are protected by the state by comparing the pre-conditions for entitlement to basic social security while abroad. As well as illuminating the extent of their dependency on the company and the market for social protection, the findings indicate that temporary migrants incur new social risks albeit to varying extents depending on the country of origin, their labour market activity, and the conditions of the contract of employment with the sending company.